Mountbatten’s hospice in West End, Southampton, hosted a ceremony to commemorate the renaming of its education and outpatient service building to the Frances Sheldon Centre.

In addition to hospice staff, CEO Nigel Harvey and patron Alan Titchmarsh, there were members of Frances Sheldon’s family, some of whom even travelled from France for the occasion.

Alan Titchmarsh unveiled a plaque to Frances Sheldon(Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

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Frances was a pioneer in the field of psychological palliative care. Appointed as the first social worker at Countess Mountbatten House in 1977, she helped develop the role in end-of-life care.

From 1986 to 1991, she worked for the hospice’s education team, and she was a senior lecturer at Southampton University until 2002.

Frances Sheldon(Image: Mountbatten)

She died on February 26, 2004, at Mountbatten Hampshire’s inpatient unit.

Alan Titchmarsh recalled interviewing her for the BBC as he unveiled a plaque in her honour.

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Outside the centre(Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

He said: “She did so much. It is so easy to forget people who have made a big difference, and she did make a big difference in the area.”

Frances’ long-time partner, Keith Telford, said: “She would be very pleased.

“She was very rational and very warm. Just the sort of person that would go anywhere and pitch in.”

Ben, Keith and Matthew(Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

Consultant of palliative medicine, Dr Carol Davis, worked with Frances. She said: “She was amazing. She had a way of making complex things simple and an absolute passion for care.”

Among those in attendance were her sons, Ben and Matthew Sheldon. Ben called the event a “wonderful surprise”, though he admitted his mother would have likely found it to be embarrassing, but added they were very proud and very grateful.

Dr Carol Davis(Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

The renaming coincided with some recently finished refurbishment, including inside the adjacent inpatient unit, and next week’s departure of the CEO, Nigel Hartley.

He said: “People come here and the atmosphere isn’t all doom and gloom, it is about life.

“I wanted to do this before I retire. I come from a psychological therapy background, and she was very influential to me throughout my career.”