A tribute to our founder and former President, Dr Brian Herd
We are saddened to learn of the death of our charity’s founder and former President, Dr Brian Herd.
Working as a GP in Cockermouth in the mid-1980s, Dr Herd, along with other healthcare colleagues and professionals, realised the lack of palliative care was severely impacting on the quality of end-of-life support for local people in the region. This group formed an alliance to improve the services available for patients and their families, with Dr Herd playing a pivotal role in driving forward a movement for change. He spent time visiting other hospices around the country to understand how a service could be developed and implemented in West Cumbria, even meeting Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement.
When reflecting, he said:
When we first started, it was a totally new concept. We set out to provide full hospice care in a patient’s own home, rather than a separate building. At the time, some thought it would be impossible to achieve, but it has succeeded beyond our expectation.
He became the Chair of the charity when it was first constituted and then President, only retiring last summer on his 90th birthday. In January this year Dr Herd received a letter from the King recognising his achievements and thanking him for his work in supporting the organisation over such a long period of time.
Our hospice staff were there for Dr Herd and his family during his final weeks, enabling him to be at home.
Brendon Cook, current Chair of the charity said:
Brian was an exceptional person, he taught me a great deal, and I truly valued his support. He has been an incredible champion for Hospice at Home West Cumbria, and utterly passionate about the charity he helped to build. His drive and determination in those early days, and which continued for nearly forty years, means we have a superb organisation bringing enormous benefit to the local community. We owe him a great debt of gratitude, and he will be greatly missed by us all. We extend our most sincere condolences to his widow, and their family.
We plan to create a tribute page on our website, so if you have any memories of him you would like to share, please do let us know and email info@hhwc.org.uk.