A JARROW hospice will have to raise its game if it is to keep growing, its new boss has warned.
David Hall has taken over as chief executive at St Clare's Hospice after a 28-year career in the National Health Service.
His last post was as an assistant director at Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust.
His duties at the Wearside Trust inc
luded commissioning services from doctors and dentists.
Mr Hall said: "My appointment as chief executive marks an important milestone for St Clare's Hospice.
"I have been recruited with the specific remit of taking the charity to the next stage of its development strategy.
"The charity faces many challenges and must raise its game to the next level if it is to generate the income necessary to modernise and expand the range of services it offers to the residents of South Tyneside."
One of Mr Hall's first duties in his new role was to welcome South Shields MP and Foreign Secretary David Miliband to the Primrose Terrace hospice.
The visit was arranged to mark Mr Miliband's appointment as a patron of the charity.
Mr Miliband chatted to patients and staff during his informal tour of the premises.
Mr Hall is one of three new faces at the hospice.
Retired palliative care consultant Tim Lovell takes over as president after the death of Barbara Lady Chapman in June this year. The hospice also has a new chairman of its board of trustees – Raphael Attard.
St Clare's Hospice, the biggest provider of palliative care in South Tyneside, has annual running costs of £1.35m.
It receives about 35 per cent of its funding from the NHS, with the rest coming from donations and fundraising activities, such as its lottery and charity shops.
