Hospice cuddle beds help families share final moments

A hospice bought extra "cuddle beds" it offers patients, after a successful fundraising campaign highlighted their importance in end‑of‑life care.

Cuddle beds are extra‑wide, extendable hospice beds that allow partners or family members to lie side‑by‑side with patients, removing the physical barriers of traditional hospital beds.

St Margaret's Hospice in Taunton, Somerset, now has four cuddle beds on site, each costing £15,000, after previously offering two.

Alison Champion‑Lewis used a cuddle bed while her husband Rob was receiving end‑of‑life care at the hospice. "It was just fabulous to be together," she said.

"In a normal hospital you're on the periphery of what's going on, you're told you can't sit on the bed, whereas this - you have that closeness, we could just be together."

Rob was a serving police officer when he was suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 54. Alison says the cuddle bed made a huge difference to the end of his life.

"He absolutely loved it. He'd say 'I just want you here with me', 'it's my happy place, just cuddling you.'"

"When Rob died I wasn't on the edge of it - I was in it. It was my goodbye, our goodbye."

Staff at St Margaret's Hospice said the beds play a vital role in helping patients feel like people rather than patients during their final days.

"I think it's the impact and understanding something as simple as a cuddle can do for somebody," said senior sister at St Margaret's Hospice, Anna Saunders.

"I think a cuddle is something that we very much take for granted, but knowing it made such a huge difference to both of them during that stay has has affected us as a team.

"I think it's also about dignity. From a patient's perspective they've gone from being a patient to being a human, and somebody loved."

Like many hospices across England, St Margaret's relies heavily on community fundraising to pay for specialist equipment not routinely covered by NHS funding.

Each cuddle bed costs £15,000 and while the hospice has doubled its number from two to four, the long‑term aim is to have one in every patient room.

"You just cannot underestimate the appreciation we have when people go out and fundraise," said Ms Saunders.

"I've been here for 10 years and even now that impact stays with me."

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