Nottingham Queen’s Medical Centre opens new Bereavement Suite thanks to hard working staff

A new Bereavement Suite at Nottingham’s Queens Medical Centre has opened with an official announcement at the Dying Matters conference. The new suite aims to provide a better level of service for those who have lost loved ones while housing more staff in purpose-built facilities while updating equipment for those who are grieving.

The Bereavement Service has been in place for over a decade, after taking over from the chaplaincy. It implemented the Medical Examiners Service which is now a nationwide function for NHS Trusts in 2019. As a result of the change, it became busier than ever with the facilities at QMC struggling to keep up the demand.

The service began rapidly running out of space as the room was not large enough for all of the medical examiners, medical examiner officers, bereavement officers, management teams, doctors and consultants. Meanwhile, the bereavement family room was located three floors up from the main office where families would often have to wait in corridors until the family room was free.

The team refused to be disheartened after their initial bid for funding was turned down after they applied for the right to fundraise for the new suite themselves. They had spotted a disused pathology laboratory which would have cost £250,000 to convert after a feasibility study was run. The team were determined to raise some of the funds with the view to the Trust covering the rest.

As part of the fundraising process, the team organised raffles, sponsored swims, card making and appeared on NUH radio. They also spent four weekends clearing out the old laboratory while meeting with local Nottingham companies and setting up a Just-Giving page. They also had the support of the Friends of QMC Charity who pledged to fund all of the furnishings.

The pandemic meant there was increased demand for services like the bereavement suite. The Trust then agreed to the construction of the new suite. As part of the first fundraising drive, the team set up a ‘buy a leaf’ campaign for a mural that was to be designed in the new family room. They used the last of their just-giving money to fund a beautiful birch tree mural which features name dedications.

Jo Frearson-Smith, Bereavement Services Manager, said: “We would like to thank everyone that has been involved in this journey and who has supported us from the start. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and contributions made to get this project moving and finally completed.”