Professor Wilkes played an instrumental role in the founding of Help the Hospices, now the leading charity supporting hospice care throughout the UK, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversary. Together with Help the Hospices president Anne, Duchess of Norfolk, who describes him as “a visionary and a pioneer of day care”, he was co-Chair and trustee for the charity’s first five years.
Help the Hospices was created to support the development of hospices across the UK in order to address the inadequacy of end of life care in many parts of the country at that time. Its foundation followed the publication in 1980 of the highly regarded Wilkes Report, authored by Professor Wilkes on behalf of the DHSS, which highlighted for the first time the need for a national framework for palliative care. Professor Wilkes played a crucial role in setting the charity on course towards its vision of ensuring the very best care for everyone facing the end of life.
Professor Wilkes was also the founder and Honorary Life President of St Luke’s Hospice in Sheffield, the first hospice in England outside London, which was opened in 1971 and where he pioneered hospice day care.
David Praill, chief executive of Help the Hospices, says:
"Like Dame Cicely Saunders before him, Eric Wilkes was one of those rare and remarkable people that through their vision, their compassion, their dedication and their sheer force of will, succeeded in making a tangible, positive impact on the lives of many thousands of people. His presence will be greatly missed, but his legacy will continue to benefit the hospice movement and the individuals and families it serves indefinitely."
Anne, Duchess of Norfolk, Help the Hospices founder and president, says:
"It has been very sad indeed for us all hearing of the death of Eric Wilkes, a great man and a great friend as well."
"It was Eric’s immediate backing for the idea of forming a national charity for the further support of hospice care that, more than anything, convinced and enabled me to go ahead with launching Help the Hospices in 1984."
“Over the following five years Eric was a very active chairman at our board of trustees. He led the way especially in our support for education and training. His was the outstanding contribution towards achieving our aims. It has been wonderful to be able to keep in touch with both Eric and his wife Jess since these early days. I personally owe to both of them more that I could ever possibly say."
Notes to editors
Born into a Jewish family in 1920, Eric Wilkes went to King’s College, Cambridge in 1937 to read English. He left Cambridge in 1939-40 with a war degree and joined the Army as a signaler becoming a lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Corps of Signals. After the war he followed through earlier thoughts of a medical career by returning to King’s College, Cambridge to study medicine.
His early medical training was conducted at St Thomas’s Hospital, London (1947-52) where he met his wife, Jess, a nurse.
Eventually he decided to leave hospital medicine for a career as a country GP in Baslow, Derbyshire. He had heard of Cicely Saunders, widely regarded as the founder of the modern hospice movement, at St Thomas’s Hospital, and attended one of her talks on care of the dying in Sheffield in the late 1960s.
In 1971 he became Professor of Community Care and General Practice at Sheffield University, a post he held until 1984. He was also a governor at Sheffield City Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University) receiving an honorary fellowship in 1985.
In 1979 he began work on the famous Wilkes’ Report (HMSO, 1980) into end of life care.
In 1984 he joined together with Anne, Duchess of Norfolk, Doctor James Hanratty of St Joseph’s in Hackney, Professor Peter Quillam, chairman of the BMA Board of Science and Dame Cicely Saunders to found Help the Hospices.
Prof Wilkes received an OBE for his services to medicine and palliative care.
About Help the Hospices
Help the Hospices is the leading charity supporting hospice care throughout the UK. In particular we support our 213 hospice members in their vital work on the front line of caring for people who face the end of life.
The majority of hospice care is provided by our members - local charities rooted in the communities they serve. Hospices provide a wide range of care for people living with life-limiting and terminal illness and their families, from inpatient beds to day care and care for people in their own homes.
Health services are funded separately by the devolved government in each UK nation. In England the government contributes an average of 32% of running costs for adult hospices (predominantly through Primary Care Trusts) andabout 15% for children’s hospices– the rest has to be found by charitable fundraising (note: based on latest figures available). About 100,000 volunteers work in UK hospices, and hospices couldn’t do the work they do without them.
www.helpthehospices.org.uk
Media enquiries
Katie Brewin tel 0207 520 8295
k.brewin@helpthehospices.org.uk
