11 May 2017
A new room which will provide privacy and dignity for patients at the end of their life has been opened by the Trust which runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals to mark Dying Matters Week.
Carol Bagnall, Matron on Ward 27, and Bernie Moore, whose wife, Trish, was cared for by the Trust, open the Swan Room.
The new Swan Room has been opened on Ward 27 at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH). It is the fourth Swan Room to open at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs RSH and the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford. There are also plans for two more rooms at PRH this year.
The room will build on the work being carried out by the Trust to improve End of Life and Bereavement Care.
The work is part of the Trust’s Swan Scheme, which uses a swan symbol to represent End of Life and Bereavement Care.
Jules Lewis, End of Life Care Facilitator at SaTH, said: “Death and dying is very difficult to deal with, even for staff who work in hospitals, but helping patients and their families at their time of greatest need is hugely important to us.
“The Staff on Ward 27 have been amazing in helping to make this happen and we have had great support from our Estates colleagues, too.”
The Swan Room was opened by Carol Bagnall, Matron on Ward 27, and Bernie Moore, whose wife, Trish, was cared for by the Trust.
Bernie donated £1,105 from his wife’s funeral to the Swan Fund, which helps to pay for improvements in end of life care.
The opening of the new Swan Room is one of a number of events at SaTH
being held to mark Dying Matters Week, a national event aimed at giving people an unparalleled opportunity to place the importance of talking about dying, death and bereavement firmly on the national agenda.
The theme of this year’s week is “What Can You Do?” and aims to get people more active in planning for dying and death and helping support those who may need it in times of grief and bereavement.
To mark the week, SaTH held coffee and cake events aimed mainly at non-clinical staff at PRH and RSH and is also trialling new sympathy cards which will be included in Swan bereavement packs. These compliment Swan boxes, which are given to the families of dying patients and contain relative information, basic toiletries for the patient or their loved ones, a small pack of tissues, a small ribbon-tie bag for jewellery or a hair lock, and a bag for any property.
They can also be used as memory boxes for people to keep special items 
such as photographs, jewellery, certificates and cards.
SaTH will also be part of an event which will take place in the Square in Shrewsbury tomorrow (Friday 12 May) from 10am to 2pm.
Jules said: “There will be lots happening on the day. We will be holding a ‘talking about death and dying café’ where people can sit and have an informal chat about issues connected to death and dying and there will be cupcakes, crafts and a florist with us.
“We will be asking people how they would like to be remembered and what they want to do before they die.
“This is not about organisations arranging an event; it is about individuals coming together to talk about this very important part of life, which many still struggle to discuss. We will not be in uniform, as very often even that is seen as a barrier to people being able to talk openly and honestly.”