Peter Ellis our Nursing Director read out the following story from a relative of a patient who died here at the Hospice in the Weald only last week.
A week in the life of a family
Today is the day my father died at 10:20 am,
at Hospice in the Weald, Kent. His
death was final, brutal and shocking.
What else can death be but final, brutal and shocking you might ask? The answer has to be more brutal and
more shocking, were it not for the services of hospice.
My father had lung cancer, vascular disease
and heart failure. He was admitted
to hospice a week ago having been visited at home on a regular basis by the
hospice care in the community team up until then.
Kerry, his named hospice care in the
community nurse, was a Godsend both to him and to the family. She met with us and him on a regular
basis and was able to openly discuss the many difficult decisions facing my dad
and our family in a comforting and kind way. She arranged visits from the hospice Chaplain, Liza; the district
nurses, the hospice counsellor and the doctors and was on hand with advice,
care and support whenever my father or the family needed her.
Before he died my father fell, on three
different occasions. The last fall
was the worst. He never regained
his strength after it. It resulted
in a hospital stay and discharge home.
This meant carers four times a day, the delivery to his home of hospital
equipment and a hospital bed. It
also meant a rapid decline in his health and a very distressing time for
all. It was Kerry who assessed the
situation and advised admission to hospice for palliative care and death with
dignity.
The nurses and doctors at Hospice in the
Weald provided our family with a lifeline for which we will always be
grateful. By admitting my dad to
hospice we could simply be a family again. Gone was the responsibility of letting carers in, sitting
with him until the carers came back, worrying that he wasn’t getting
appropriate care, worrying that he might be in pain and that we mightn’t be
able to manage it. The team at
Pembury took on all of my father’s needs with compassion, respect and
professionalism and allowed him to be the dignified man he had been all his
life. Whilst he was able his
humour and wit had a chance to shine through and when that time was past he was
made comfortable in a lovely room with views over the beautifully tended
hospice grounds.
Throughout his stay in hospice my brother
and sister, my aunt and I were treated with great kindness and
understanding. No request was too
much bother, no time of day or night was inconvenient for the staff and
everything was done to meet our needs as well as our father’s. From the big things like meeting with
Liza the hospice chaplain, holding meetings with the doctors and nurses, and
being offered counselling as part of the hospice outreach to the little things
like hot cups of tea and toast with jam we were held in kind hands. We sat with
my dad throughout his hospice stay and were grateful that he did not have to
walk his final path alone. Hospice allowed us to be a family from the day my
dad was wheeled in until the day we walked out without him.
To every stakeholder who makes hospice
possible – the volunteers, the cleaners, the gardeners, the chaplains, the
nurses, the doctors, the counsellors, the flower arrangers, the front desk
ladies and those behind the scenes – thank you. Until you have walked the road of a hospice user it may be
hard to fully understand the impact you have had but from one grateful family
be assured – my father’s end of life and death were made better by you.
With gratitude
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