Spotlight On: St Peter’s Hospice CEO Frank Noble

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Every so often we like to shine the spotlight on our members, and in this case one of the members of the West of England Initiative. We sat down with Frank Noble, Chief Executive of St Peter's Hospice to talk about the great work they do and their relationship with the West of England Initiative.

Business West: Tell us about your role – what do you have responsibility for? What does a typical day look like? 

Frank Noble: St Peter’s Hospice often surprises people … it certainly surprised me.  I remember walking through the main reception at Brentry on my first day wondering if it would be a sad place, with people a little subdued and a few tears.  The opposite is true.  It is a place of energy, big smiles and a lot of humour.    

St Peter’s is also surprising in terms of it’s breadth and scale.  We have 46 retail stores across the Bristol area, from Thornbury and Yate to Clevedon and Yatton.  We have circa. 400 employees and circa. 1500 volunteers.    

I joined St Peter’s as CEO about 6 months before the first lockdown.  It’s fair to say that there has been no typical day since.  I’ve journeyed into work at Brentry every day.  One day a week, I have been on the road with our community nursing teams, visiting our retail stores, meeting staff at our fundraising offices in Long Ashton, supporting a fundraising event or attending civic functions. 

BW: What does your organisation do? Why do you like working for them? (You can include how many people you employ, the role you play across the city etc.) 

FN: St Peter’s provides care for adults with active life-limiting conditions.  The numbers are quite humbling.  Some 3000 patients are referred to us by GPs and the hospitals every year.  We care for over 90% of those patients in their own homes through our community nursing teams and hospice-at-home service.  Patients with complex conditions are cared for at our inpatient unit in Brentry where we have a highly specialist team of doctors, nurses and health care assistants.

You might ask what the difference is between St Peter’s Hospice and our partners in the NHS.  As a hospice, our approach is to care for the whole patient, as well as their families and carers.  As well as direct clinical care, from Day 1, we ‘wrap’ the patient and their family with all our services including emotional and psychological support (including bereavement), occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work support, multi-faith support and a 24/7 advice line.

As CEO, it is a privilege to work with such wonderful people.

BW: Why have you joined the Bristol Initiative? 

FN: St Peter’s Hospice is a member of the Bristol Initiative as we operate a significant retail enterprise across the wider Bristol area.  As a charity, we are highly dependent on fundraising and donations.  Our retail operation underpins our clinical services.  

We have a contract with the NHS which covers 20% of our costs.  In other words, for every £1 that we spend on services, we have to raise 80p through people shopping in our stores or donating through our fundraising activities.

It is important for us to be connected to the wider Bristol business network, so that we remain competitive as a charity retail enterprise. 

BW: What are the key agendas that you’re looking forward to getting involved with? 

FN: We are looking forward to learning more about how we play our part in protecting environmental sustainability.  It is hard for us in some respects.   We don’t get a choice on what stock to buy.  People bring donations to our door and we take whatever they give us.  On the clinical side, we procure protective equipment through the NHS system and there is an awful lot of plastic.  We need to find a way to push forward where we can.

BW: Where is your favourite place to visit in Bristol?

FN: There are so many wonderful places in Bristol - the harbour, the suspension bridge, the steps by the Cottage pub, Wapping Wharf and the Fleece music venue. However, my favourite place is the bluebell wood in Ashton Court, in the spring.

If you would like to show your support for St Peter's Hospice Bristol you can pick up a copy of Frank's book, Real Leadership: Through The Heart on Amazon and all proceeds will go towards their fantastic work. Also if you are a member of a Business West Chamber of Commerce and would like to be featured in a blog just like this one then you can get in touch.