Hospice care first came into being in Hong Kong in the 1980's. At that time, patients with terminal disease like cancer for which very little further could be done medically in the line of cure or remission were for the most part considered to require less urgent management. There was even a shortage of bed spaces and so visiting facilities for relatives were very limited. Patients who were dying were often isolated in corner beds and screened off from the rest of the ward. Doctors and nurses, overstretched and overworked, saw some of these die alone and unattended. There was no way these patients could receive individual attention.

It was in response to this great need that the whole concept of hospice care was explored further in the mid 80's aiming to:

• give individualized and holistic care to the terminally ill patients
  
• Improve their quality of life by adding life to days rather than days to life

A group of health care professionals came together to establish THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF HOSPICE CARE (SPHC) in 1986. The group envisaged the provision of in-patient care and territory wide home care services for advanced cancer patients. They also hoped to provide education and research facilities for the promotion of hospice care in Hong Kong.

From the start, the Society's aim was to create a hospice, which would be an independent, non-denominational centre of hospice care for the territory. Hence, the members of SPHC lobbied the Government Lands Department for a site on which to build this dream hospice.
· 1990 Suitable site in Shatin allocated for Hospice unit
· 1992 The Bradbury Hospice - an in-patient unit with 27 beds was completed.

This was a mere 6 years since the Society was first founded. It was in fact the success of the Bradbury Hospice that paved the way for so much else that the Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care has been able to achieve. The first 3 years was funded by SPHC with the help of many donors and by April 1995, Bradbury Hospice was incorporated under the management of the Hospital Authority and becomes a public hospital since then. At present its services embrace In-patient care, Home Care, Day Care, bereavement care, the provision of professional training to local health care workers and the public as well as the undertaking of a number of research studies in the field.

Gratitude to all the donors

We thank all our donors who made it possible to start Hospice Care in Hong Kong - the Keswick Foundation, The Bradbury Trust, The Hong Kong Bank Foundation, The Jockey Club, Rotary Club of Hong Kong International, and numerous other donors who gave so generously during these early years. Thanks too the friends of Hospice Volunteer Group who became a dynamic force in fund-raising.