Professor Phil Hopkins – Chair of Trustees at the Bethlehem Care and Hospice Trust recently visited our care team in the West Bank. In this series of 4 articles you will see how the visit offered invaluable insights into the extraordinary work of our hospice team on the ground, the challenges they face, and the profound difference your support is making.
We visited patients in Beit Jala, Duheisha camp, and other areas of Bethlehem, each with complex medical and social needs. One elderly woman, bedridden for six years following a stroke, greeted the team with gratitude as they tended to her painful pressure sores and provided physiotherapy that has slowly improved her condition.
Another patient, a woman battling advanced breast and thyroid cancer, was struggling with pain, malnutrition, and overwhelming care-giving demands on her family. The hospice team’s intervention helped stabilise her condition and prevented a potentially unnecessary hospital readmission, bringing much-needed support and reassurance to her loved ones.
We also met a middle-aged man in Duheisha camp suffering from multiple chronic illnesses and unable to afford essential medications. Despite the complexity of his care and the dire circumstances of his family – his son, a nursing student, recently shot in the leg – our team provided medical, emotional, and practical support.
These are just a few examples of the over 150 patients cared for so far, with more than 2,000 home visits completed since our service launched in 2023.
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