Prospect Hospice nurses aiming to make every day the best it can possibly be for patients

"We normally see patients who are in the last year of their lives, so our work is palliative – that is relieving pain and discomfort – rather than curative. A clinical nurse specialist, or CNS, is a specialist in end of life care, rather than a generalist, and we work out in the community rather than at Prospect Hospice’s main building in Wroughton.

We take referrals from GPs, district nurses, oncologists at the hospital and even sometimes patients themselves. Because we are specialist practitioners – and also because we are an independent charity, rather than part of the NHS, we can provide a range of practical, medical and emotional support that is tailored to each individual patient and their loved ones.

In any one day my colleagues and I may help control the symptoms of patients who are in their own homes, prescribe and administer pain relief, make breathing easier, offer them psychological and social support and help them deal with financial or legal matters too. We want every day that these patients still have left to be as good as they can possibly be.

Each patient is an individual who has their own needs and wishes that we go that extra mile to meet if we possibly can.

One patient in Swindon was quite an independent and assertive lady who lived alone. I’d been caring for her quite some time, and once when I visited her I could see that something was upsetting her. She told me that she had a fear of spiders, and that she had seen a large spider scuttling across the carpet and had lain in bed, unable to do anything about it, knowing it was in the room but not where.

I live near Faringdon Park in Swindon, and so next time I saw her I took a huge pile of conkers with me – spiders are said to dislike conkers, and I put them near the window and door to keep them out. She was very comforted by that.

As she became weaker, she began to tell me about things that she would never do again – kick leaves in autumn, feel the sand beneath her toes on a beach. She longed to go to the seaside and write her name in the sand, but she was too unwell to do that.

When I went on holiday to Bournemouth, I wrote her name using pebbles and seaweed on the beach, took a photo and turned it into a card for her.

She kept that card among her important papers and I was so touched that my gesture had meant so much to her.

Sometimes when a patient dies, I’ll drive home and have a good blub. But it’s a great job.

Communication is the most important part of it, and although it’s always sad when someone dies, I feel that I’m helping them have the best death they can have."

Prospect Hospice during the pandemic

If you’re running a hospice during a pandemic, what do you do when most of your patients, their loved ones and others in the community can’t come into your hospice building anymore?

Simple, say the end-of-life care specialists at Prospect Hospice – you take the hospice out into the community instead.

Irene Watkins, chief executive of Prospect Hospice

The Covid-19 crisis hasn’t stopped the Wroughton provider from delivering end-of-life care to patients and their families and loved ones. It’s just meant that the hospice has been taking far more of its expert services out into the community, and into people’s own homes.

Chief executive Irene Watkins said the feedback she is getting from patients and families is that this new way of working is working very well indeed.

She said: “We’ve always known that Prospect Hospice is so much more than bricks and mortar.

"But this year has given us the opportunity to showcase that to the wonderful community that supports us.

"Covid-19 meant it was suddenly impossible to offer services like day therapy or family support at our Wroughton base. But by thinking out of the box, our colleagues soon devised new ways of supporting patients and families, whether in person in their homes or online.

"The phrase that I’ve begun to use is Prospect without walls. Because we are there, out in the community, where we now need to be.

"I’m so proud of how everyone has flexed to make sure that our community has been able to benefit from the expertise in specialist, end-of-life care which Prospect Hospice is well known for.”

Did you know?

Around 70 per cent of Prospect's income comes from the donations and fundraising efforts of people who live or work in Swindon and its surrounding area. This generosity that enables the hospice to provide expert clinical, emotional and practical support.

Prospect@Home health care assistants Kerrie Westmacott and Kerri Parkes spend their days with patients in their homes

Join Together January for Prospect Hospice

As part of its community drive, Prospect Hospice has launched Join Together January.

The initiative provides four fun ideas to give people the opportunity to come together each week throughout the month so they can keep in touch while supporting services across Swindon and north east Wiltshire.

People will be encouraged to host their own virtual quiz over Zoom with family and friends – with no Google allowed! The charity is also providing help with hosting bingo nights, a murder mystery and a cookalong, with the details available early in the new year.

Community and events fundraiser Abby Benson said: “We know it’s been really difficult over the last year for people to see each other and share special moments so we wanted to create a way for family and friends to come together and share some fun to start the new year in a positive way.

"We’ve come up with four ways that people can do that, enabling them to do something each week which brings them together to catch up and help raise a little money for the hospice too.”

Registration for the quiz, bingo and murder mystery is free and anybody interested can download everything they need to create a fun evening in from the charity’s website page.

All the hospice asks is that people who take part set up an online fundraising page so that others can donate if they wish.

Registration for the cookalong costs £20 for the lead booker. A video demonstration to share on the night and a list of ingredients and equipment will make sure participants are fully prepared.

To find out more about the events and download host packs, visit www.prospect-hospice.net/jointogetherjanuary