KEMP Hospice has appointed a new chief executive officer to help Wyre Forest patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

Terry Osborn, of Hay on Wye, has been appointed as chief executive of the hospice, in Mason Road, after holding three other chief executive posts in health-related charities.

Mr Osborn previously worked in sales and marketing in the fresh produce industry before moving to the voluntary sector in 1996.

The 59-year-old believes it is important for charities to have some business disciplines to help them raise funds.

He said: “I just treated fundraising as sales and marketing. What you want people to buy is not the product but what it does for them.

“For a charity it’s no different. What we have to do is go out there and tell our story and tell it with honesty and conviction and if you do that, people will donate.”

Mr Osborn will be doing an internal review of Kemp Hospice and a full strategic review of its services.

He added: “We’re consulting widely with patients and the people who care for them, the bereaved who have had experience of our services and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS and the general public.”

Mr Osborn said Kemp would also prepare for a greater demand for care at home due to the aging population and more people suffering with dementia.

He added: “We’re in a world where there is lots of forecasts made about the demand for hospice care. The demand will increase. We need to be ready for that in planning.”