\n Westminster Memorial Hospital in Shaftesbury has earned Platinum Status from the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) and the 2025 Innovation and Best Practice Award from the Community Hospitals Association (CHA) for its palliative and bereavement services.\n<\/p>\n
\n Kate Norris, ward sister at the hospital, said: “We recognised that while we provided high-quality, compassionate care to patients and families at the bedside, our ongoing support for families following the death of a loved one was limited.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Bereavement can be a deeply distressing and isolating experience, yet it is rarely spoken about openly in everyday life.\n<\/p>\n
\n From left \u2013 right: Holly Brown, ward sister. Kate Norris, senior sister and Professor Anne Hendry from IFIC (International Foundation for Integrated Care), Scotland. (Image: Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust)\n<\/p>\n
\n “Families often feel unsure about where to turn for ongoing support.”\n<\/p>\n
\n In response, the hospital launched a programme of improvements.\n<\/p>\n
\n These included refurbishing the end-of-life suite, introducing bespoke information packs for families, and creating a bereavement garden with a two-metre memorial tree.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Norris said: “Our aim was to develop services that allowed families to remain connected with us beyond the point of death, reflecting our commitment to holistic, compassionate and continuous care.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The enthusiasm and commitment across hospital and in the local community in making this happen were remarkable.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It brought everyone together, and the recognition from both the GSF and the CHA reflects the dedication, compassion and innovation of the whole team and confirms the positive impact of its work on patients, families, staff and the wider community.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The hospital has also introduced a new bereavement service, supported by chaplaincy and a choir, offering gatherings for families to share memories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Westminster Memorial Hospital in Shaftesbury has earned Platinum Status from the Gold Standards Framework (GSF) and the 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-604855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}