Dr Karen Groves MBE the leading figure behind the creation of Queenscourt Hospice is retiring

Dr Karen Groves MBE the leading figure behind the creation of Queenscourt Hospice, who has been described as the charity’s “driving force”, is stepping down after 30 years of service.

Dr Karen Groves MBE has revealed she is retiring from her role as Medical and Education Director after spending three decades working for the Town Lane-based hospice.

Dr Groves and her sister Sarah were the “inspiration and driving force” behind the creation of Queenscourt Hospice 30 years ago, when there were no real palliative care services in Southport.

Dr Groves said: “Just as when Queenscourt began, over 30 years ago, when there were no real palliative care services in this area, we still need to try fill the gaps that exist for those who need us and we need to work out how best to do that, with the resources we have available.

“We hope that Queenscourt will continue to serve the people of West Lancs, Southport & Formby, their families and their health professionals for many years to come.

“That is of course dependent upon you, the people of this area, your financial contributions, your ongoing support, your volunteering, your prayers and good wishes, your continued recognition of the work that Queenscourt does, has done and will continue to do.

“Once again, thankyou for all you do, in whatever way, on behalf of those who cannot thank you themselves.”

After qualifying as a medical doctor from Liverpool University in 1979, Dr Groves first identified the need for better end of life care after experiencing two particularly traumatic deaths in young women.

She went on to work as a GP in the Southport area for over 12 years and it was during this time that she and her sister Sarah, a nurse, sought advice from Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the hospice movement in London.

On their return they inspired a small group of people to begin fundraising and after much hard work, planning permission for Queenscourt Hospice was granted in December 1988. Mayor Cllr Maureen Fearn cut the first turf on March 14th, 1990 and planted a copper beech tree which still grows to the left of the entrance to what is now the Terence Burgess Education Centre.

The hospice building was handed over on March 1, 1991 and the next two months were spent fitting it out ready for occupation. Queenscourt opened its Day Therapy and five inpatient beds on June 1, 1991 and later that year increased to a 10-bed ward.

The following year, Diana Princess of Wales officially opened Queenscourt. Dr Groves had been a volunteer doctor at the hospice for five years, while still working full time as a GP, until she was appointed as Medical Officer in 1995.

In 1996, she became the first local consultant in Palliative Medicine; in 2012, Dr Groves was awarded an honorary degree from Edge Hill University and in 2014 received an MBE for Services to Palliative Care.