Staff celebrate Hospice Care Week at St Helena Hospice

The Colchester based hospice is celebrating Hospice Care Week by explaining what goes on behind closed doors. 

Hospice Care Week, which runs from October 7 to 13, celebrates the hundreds of hospices across the UK and shares stories from staff, patients and families. 

Staff work tirelessly to care for patients who come into the hospice to receive end of life and last year the charity saw staff caring for 4,248 people facing incurable illnesses and bereavement troubles. 

Nurse - Katy Billimore (Image: Newsquest) Katy Billimore, who has worked as a single point nurse at the hospice for five years explains how the hospice provides care at home. 

She said: "A call will come in and it could be someone who has suddenly become very symptomatic or it might be someone we have had nothing to do with yet. 

"We will go out and do an urgent visit whether they need symptom control or medication as we have our clinical nurses who can prescribe them.

"We try to make sure that if someone wants to stay at home that they can stay at home and we make sure they are as comfortable as possible.

"We could have someone screaming down the phone because someone is dying or we could have someone calling in because their medication has run out - no two days are the same."

Doctor - Katherine Oakley (Image: Newsquest)

Katherine Oakley has been a palliative care doctor at St Helena Hospice for fourteen years and explains how she loves making a difference in people's lives. 

She said: "Palliative care is about looking after people who are usually in the last year of their life.

"It is a branch of medicine which lets us look after them holistically - we are not just focusing on one part of them like their cancer or their heart failure we are looking at them as a full person. 

"I feel we approach somebody and find what is important to them and it may be pain, sickness or mobility or it may be something they would like to achieve.

"For me what gives my job meaning is making a difference."

She continues to praise the people she works alongside with. 

Katherine said: "I've got a great team around me none of us could do something on our own its the fact that we all work together as a team.

"It is a bit cheesy but it really is just so lovely." 
 

Matron - Niamh Eve in the St Helena Hospice gardens (Image: Newsquest)

For hospice matron Niamh Eve there is no better feeling than making the wishes of her patients come true. 

Niamh has worked at the hospice for 11 years and has been a matron for three years. 

She said: "I manage the in-patient unit and all of the nurses and clinic support I also look after the ward systems, senior staff, social workers, rehab and dementia therapies so it is quite a wide role.

"I oversee anything that happens but the main thing is making sure residents are ok, safe and looked after."

She tries her best to grant wishes for patients under her care, no matter what they are.

"These wishes started off with someone just asking to do something - there was a patient who wanted to do a steak dinner for his wife's anniversary.

"I went to a steak restaurant and got the food and brought it in and surprised his wife with flowers and everything.

"I am so glad that we did that because that was on Saturday and he died on the Monday so it was really special that he was able to do that for his wife."

Niamh also reminisced on a time where Sam the donkey was brought down to the hospice, bringing smiles to patients and families faces.