A patient at Wigan & Leigh Hospice, Brian Rogers, describes his experiences within the hospice

About Wigan & Leigh Hospice

Wigan & Leigh Hospice supports a community with a population of around 310,000 people.

We provide expert care and support - not just from within our hospice building, but also out in the community, to people in their own homes or within nursing homes.

Our aim is to make a real difference to people - and to those around them - most typically when they are seriously ill and their life may be coming to an end. However, it's very much a myth that a hospice is only for those who are close to death: we often provide skilled care, help and support over an extended period of time to people living with a life-limiting illness.

doctor and patient

Here for everyone

We don't just support the patient, we're here for the patient's family and carers as well - all those who are also affected by the patient's illness.

Specialist medical care

We provide highly specialist medical care, which is focused on the management of pain and the control of symptoms. This significantly improves the quality of our patients' lives. But our services go much, much further than this.

The whole needs of a person

We provide support that considers the 'whole needs' of the person - because a person's needs aren't just physical. They may need emotional support - so we provide it. They may need spiritual support - so we provide that too. They may even need help with information, for example, knowing where to go for financial help, or home adaptations - so we help there, too. In fact, we try hard to help as many of the patient's problems as we can, working closely with other health professionals involved in the person's care. This type of care, looking at the needs of the whole person, is often called 'palliative care'.

Our care is free - but we need your support

All of our care is provided free (we don't even charge for car-parking). However, only part of our funding comes from the NHS. We're a charity, so the rest comes via the support and goodwill of people and companies in the Wigan and Leigh area. It's a big ask: it costs around £7,400 per day to run the hospice - we're only partly funded by the NHS, so, of that, we need to raise around £4,500 each day in order to provide our services.

Wigan & Leigh Hospice is regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the Charity Commission.