‘Terrific’ team Hospice praised after woman spent final days with family
FOR many families the hardest part of the pandemic has been not being able to visit or say goodbye to loved ones dying in hospital.
So grieving widower Jonathan Goodwin says he will be forever grateful to those who helped him be with his wife of 50 years for her last few weeks before she died on June 9 from cancer.
After spending months in hospital, Anna, 74, was able to go home and be in the bosom of her family in Cheltenham. Instead of being alone on a hospital ward on her last birthday, she was able to share it with Jonathan, her children and grandchildren.
None of that would have been possible without the end-of-life care from Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court’s Hospice at Home team, based in Cheltenham.
Throughout the pandemic, they have been working tirelessly, providing palliative care in people’s own homes so families can stay together.
They say the restrictions mean this has been an especially heartbreaking year for families where a loved one is living with a terminal illness or approaching the end of their life.
Anna stayed in hospital after her fifth session of chemotherapy in January.
“Before lockdown, I was going to see her twice a day, but that wasn’t possible once the restrictions were announced,” said Jonathan, whose wife became ill in October 2019. “We had been told we would lose her when she was in the ICU, but she recovered sufficiently to eventually move to Cirencester.
“When I got the call from Cirencester to come and say goodbye, my son and I went in the middle of lockdown in masks and gowns, but then she got slightly better again.”
Anna had to return to Cheltenham General from Cirencester, and on Tuesday, May 5 Jonathan had a call from a doctor asking him to come in.
Expecting the worse, he was surprised when the doctor told him Anna could go home or to the 16-bed Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice, which had restricted visiting during the lockdown.
“I think initially Anna had wanted to go to the inpatient unit because she didn’t want me to be upset, but I’m so glad she did come home because we were able to spend that time together,” he said. “It was really nice because for about the first 10 days she was quite lucid and we were able to have long talks about friends and family and holidays, which was really lovely.
“She got worse and worse, but it was made so much easier by having the Sue Ryder team to help. They really were terrific. They were so gentle with Anna and they were even concerned about me and how I was.”
The Sue Ryder nurses came in three times a day.
“Because Anna was able to come home both my sons were able to come for her birthday,” said Jonathan. “We had a little family gathering with our four grandchildren in the garden. Her bed was by the French windows, so she was able to see everyone.”
Jonathan says he cannot praise the team from the hospice enough for their compassion, kindness and expertise.
“Every single one of the Sue Ryder nurses – and I think we must have seen at least 15 of them during the time they were coming – every single one of them was brilliant,” he said.
The hospice was recently forced to launch its second urgent fundraising campaign of 2020 in response to the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the charity’s finances.
Bosses hope their ‘ We can’t stop’ campaign will help combat the £2 million a month shortfall. For details, go to www.sueryder.org/winterappeal2020.
Hospice director, Elise Hoadley, said: “It is an honour and a privilege for us to be there when it matters. And I am so grateful to our staff who have been prepared to do whatever is needed.”