Councillors praise work of the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust

Chief executive of the charity Caroline Hamblett gave a presentation to members of the Dorset Health Scrutiny Committee on Weldmar's latest quality account.

She said that during the 2015/16 financial year the charity helped more than 1,000 patients and their families.

The total cost to run the services provided was £8.6million, of which the NHS provided £1.67m.

Ms Hamblett said Weldmar was reliant on the generous support of the public and other fundraising to cover the remaining funds.

She said that figures from the past year indicated the charity was looking after more people in their own homes, with a correlating slight decline in the occupancy rates of its hospice.

Ms Hamblett told the committee: "Our role is to make what is a very difficult time for families and individuals as good as it can be with the dignity and respect that people deserve."

Looking at future challenges, she said the charity was likely to be working with more people in care homes and also was facing increasingly complex cases.

Following Ms Hamblett's presentation, committee chairman Cllr Ron Coatsworth said he wanted to congratulate the charity on behalf of the committee for its outstanding Care Quality Commission (CQC) report earlier this year.

Cllr Ros Kayes said she was impressed that, despite the glowing feedback from families, the charity was still looking at all the ways its services could be improved.

She said: "It's wonderful to see the fact think through all of the issues involved."

Cllr Paul Kimber raised a question over the charity's financial performance in the light of the challenging economic climate.

Ms Hamblett said that the charity was currently operating at a deficit of around £400,000 and, while that would not impact on any of the key services Weldmar provides, she was looking at ways to claw that back.

Cllr David Jones proposed that the committee formally thank Weldmar for its "excellent work for the people of Dorset".