While people across Nottinghamshire are enjoying festive celebrations with friends and family, nurses and healthcare assistants from Nottinghamshire Hospice will be caring for terminally ill patients in their homes across the city and county.

The Hospice at Home service and Hospice Night Support service will continue all through the Christmas period, providing care for people in the last weeks, days and hours of their lives and supporting their families through traumatic times.

Among them will be Healthcare Assistant Glyn Brownley, who has worked for the hospice for seven years. Glyn, who is down to work Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, says caring for terminally ill people at Christmastime is especially poignant.

Glyn Brownley

“The job becomes more difficult as soon as the Christmas tree goes up because it’s harder for families. It’s the same job, but it pulls at the heartstrings more. Families are extra vulnerable at this time of year so we need to be especially sensitive.”

Glyn has worked for the last few Christmasses, and last year one of his patients died on Christmas Day.

“People die seven days a week and they die on Christmas Day. That’s why I do the job. It’s harder for families at Christmas it’s a time when everyone’s supposed to be merry. You can pull up at a house where someone is dying, and next door people are partying because it’s Christmas. It makes losing someone especially raw,” he said.

One family who are very aware of the importance of Nottinghamshire Hospice services in the run-up to Christmas are the family of Roy and Sheila Jones, of Berry Hill, Mansfield.

Roy, 84, was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2019. He had previously been diagnosed with dementia at the end of 2018. Hospice support has helped Sheila and her family to care for him at home.

Roy has Hospice at Home help in the daytime, which allows Sheila to go shopping and for lunch with her daughter. He also has some overnight care.

Sheila, 83, said: “We’ve been through a rough time the last three months. When something like this happens it puts pressure on the whole family. Your people take the pressure off. The extra help means I can go out. I’m relaxed knowing Roy is in good hands. It clears my mind.

“My family can’t thank the hospice enough. I’m so grateful for what it’s done for us. All the people who come from the hospice are lovely. They become like part of the family. I can talk to them and tell them how I’m feeling. It really helps. It lifts my spirits.”

Sheila and Roy have two daughters, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. They met when they were 17 and have been married 62 years. They’ve lived in their home since 1964 and it is important for Roy to be able to stay there with family around him.

Their daughter, Julie Whyles, said having the hospice care meant she could spend more time with her partner in Burton on Trent.

“We didn’t realise this service existed and we’re really appreciative as it gives us a break. I was stopping at mum’s more nights but having the overnight care means I can come over in the daytime and spend more time with my partner in the evenings.”

Their other daughter Andrea, from Sutton in Ashfield, said: “I don’t know how we would have coped without the hospice as we were getting a bit desperate and sleep deprived before you stepped in.
“The help we’re getting at night means we can get a good night’s sleep so we cope better with the days.

“Dad is our world and it’s so important that we can feel comfortable knowing he’s with the right people, being looked after as we would want.”

Christmas will be very different this year for the family. Sheila wasn’t going to bother with Christmas decorations but her daughters put the tree up for her and are doing their best to make it a memorable family Christmas. The family plans to spend the day at Sheila and Roy’s home instead of going to Andrea’s in nearby Sutton in Ashfield as they usually would.

There are currently more than 60 Hospice at Home staff caring for more than 100 patients across Nottinghamshire. There are two Hospice Night Support teams working each night, including over Christmas.

The Night Support service, piloted across greater Nottingham for the past year, recently received funding to extend into the mid-Notts area, including Mansfield.

To find out more about how Nottinghamshire Hospice can help you or your family please phone our Care Coordinators on 0115 9621222, email [email protected] or go to https://www.nottshospice.org/our-care-services/accessing-our-services/