Our Vision Our Story Hearts Together Hospital Hotel Dedicated to Monica Pearce (1933-2006) As a charity, we provide accommodation in the form of our Hearts Together Hospital Hotel in Plymouth, for patients, carers, and relatives when receiving medical treatment or visiting a loved one in the hospital. We also offer a range of additional practical, financial, and emotional support services to help those dealing with complex challenges such as end-of-life care and emergency or life-changing illnesses. Our aim is to help alleviate the burdens that arise from staying away from home so that our guests can focus their energy on getting better themselves or caring for their loved one or baby in the hospital. The thought of creating a Hospital Hotel which would support patients receiving treatment at Derriford was the dream of our founder Monica Pearce, first suggested back in 1993 following her own heart treatment in London. In the early 1990s Monica, along with her other campaigners, delivered a petition of 195,000 names to Downing Street which moved the House of Commons to announce in 1994 that a Cardiac Unit would be set up at Derriford. Following this success, in the late 1990s Monica set about on her second appeal to raise enough funds to build carers' accommodation near the hospital. Hearts Together Hospital Hotel opened its doors in August 2001 and since then each year between 7,500 - 10,000 patients, carers and relatives have benefitted from the services and accommodation provided, often described as a haven by guests experiencing some of the most difficult times in their lives. Hearts Together was originally named HeartSWell South West - HEART IS WELL IN THE SOUTH WEST, however, in July 2019, HeartSWell merged with HeartSWell Lodge CIC in to form Hearts Together CIO. . Why are we needed? University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust (Derriford Hospital) is the only designated major trauma centre, as well as the largest hospital offering several specialist and tertiary services, in the southwest peninsula. Derriford Hospital provides health care services to a population of approximately 2 million across Devon & Cornwall, this inevitably means that many patients, relatives and carers are often faced with long and stressful journeys or substantial accommodation fees to receive treatment themselves or to visit a loved one. Since we first opened in 2001, over 150,000 people have benefited from this incredible place, often described as a haven by guests. In addition during the Covid-19 Pandemic not only did we continue to provide our services for our guests, but we also worked with the local authority and clinical commissioning group by offering space for care teams to work alongside us, to deliver support for patients being discharged from Derriford hospital needing extra care, before being able to return home. In 2021 over 100 patients were discharged to Hearts Together to receive additional care and support provided by a local authority-commissioned provider. Manage Cookie Preferences