I've been a volunteer at the hospice now for fifteen years. The general atmosphere is a
happy atmosphere, and we laugh, we jibe, we tell jokes, I could tell you one or the two
of the good jokes they've told us. They call me the whiteboard superintendent, I run all
the quizzes and all the board games from the whiteboard. That is another very important
aspect of a hospice I believe, they give each other so much support. In fact we've had patients
forming their own self-help group. So they come in, they see other people in exactly
the same situation and they are a tremendous support to each other, as well as the support
we give them. We like to think that nothing really is impossible
or too much trouble for us to do. Patients are very welcome to have their pets, they'll
often like to bring their cats or dogs in. I think our most unusual request was someone
wanted to see their petting sheep and so they came to our courtyard so they could go and
say goodbye to their sheep. On a different note, we've been able to arrange weddings
within the hospice on lots of occasions. I think our record was we managed to arrange
a wedding within two hours, obviously thanks to our local registry office.
We have up to 15 patients a day coming to the day centre, all with life-threatening
illnesses and they have a good day. They come from 10am-3pm and they do things like quizzes,
arts and crafts and relaxation. We have a team of volunteer complementary therapists
who do reflexology, aromatherapy, massage, Indian head massage, and Bowen technique.
So they actually find that it's beneficial, it helps with their pain relief, it helps
with their relaxation and actually makes them feel good about themselves again.
To my knowledge, the Heart of Kent hospice has about maybe more than 400 volunteers.
I think it would be very difficult for the hospice to work without its volunteers.
Hospices are well known for their work with cancer patients, I think it's important to
point out that we accept referrals for people who are dying from all diseased conditions.
Patients are admitted, primarily for two main reasons. A lot of our patients are admitted
for what we call 'symptom control' and that may be pain relief for any of their physical
symptoms. We see treating the psychosocial aspects of people, their stress and anxieties.
If we can help in any way with those we'll be much more successful in helping the traditional
symptom control issues. Of course people are also admitted to the hospice to die, where
that is their choice and where we are able to respond to that.
All hospices offer counselling and bereavement support to families whose loved ones have
died at the hospice, and some hospices offer that routinely but if you're unsure you need
to go and contact your hospice and ask them what services they provide. When the patient
dies, every next of kin, every relative is offered bereavement support and they can either
see one of our counsellors or one of our volunteers or join one of the groups. It's very individual
to each person, there's no right or wrong way to feel, there's nothing that says you
have to see a counsellor or you have to join one of the groups, we're very much led by
the person and what's right for them.
Chaplains are available on the wards and in
the day therapies so we will actually go round and see people and obviously we'll be sensitive
if people don't want to speak to us at that moment or even at all, but we find it works
quite well to have quite a visible presence.
All faiths or none will often speak to chaplains
about things that are important to them and if they do need specific religious help from
another tradition, we'll be able to put them in touch with someone who can help them and
support them. Sometimes people get quite tired and depressed after a long illness and they
might say something like 'I don't know what the point of it all is,' or even 'what the
point of it all has been,' and sometimes when we can get people to talk about the important
things in their lives it helps them to realise that the unique importance in meaning and
value of their life and I think that's quite an important spiritual need that people have
towards the end of their lives, and I hear some wonderful stories as a chaplain, it's
a huge privilege. We never get used to losing a patient but
it is inevitable, everybody is born and everybody dies and it's just that that journey can be
shorter for some people than others. We just try and celebrate that journey that we have together.
For information, help, or if you just want to chat
call the Macmillan support line on 0808 808 00 00 or visit macmillan.org.uk