Category: Hospice News
International Nurses Day – Our Specialist Nurse Practitioners
We have three fantastic Specialist Nurse Practitioners working for St Barnabas Hospice, and we wanted to highlight their incredible skill and knowledge on International Nurses Day.
Our Specialist Nurse Practitioners (SNPs) are Ryan Jewitt, Mary Hall and Majella Wright. Majella has put some words together to describe how their role impacts the care we provide each and every day.
Majella said:
“Before joining St Barnabas, my previous roles have been Clinical Nurse Specialist in Lung Cancer at The Royal Marsden Hospital Surrey, Clinical Researcher for the Institute of Cancer Research and a Palliative Care Macmillan Nurse in North Yorkshire. These roles equipped me with skills necessary for an Associate Specialist Nurse Practitioner and I have extensive knowledge and expertise in complex cancer care management, specialist practice, life-limiting illness and end-of-life care.
“As SNPs, our role is to be key accessible figures within the Clincal team at St Barnabas. We act as a specialist resource for GPs, community teams, community hospitals, nursing homes and St Barnabas staff. We often initiate advance care planning discussions and facilitate difficult conversations with patients and their families. This enables an individual to have choices as they approach the end of their life. We also support care home staff to have advance care planning conversations with their residents. This is important as we recognise that the staff have established relationships with residents and their families.
“We are all excellent listeners and strong communicators when dealing with people. It is integral that we have a mature, compassionate and sensitive manner. We are clinical supervisors, therefore must ensure that staff have a confidential, safe and supportive environment to discuss emotive issues that arise from caring for people and their families at the end of their life.
“Many of our patients have complex and challenging care needs. Developing a rapport and coordinating care is an essential part of our roles.
“Ultimately, we all die. We have one chance to get it right and our focus is always on the patient and their carer. I believe health care professionals should be enabling people to live well until death. How we get there is engaging with people, asking appropriate questions and having appropriate meaningful and truthful conversations. A Specialist Nurse Practitioner should be at the front line to engage with patients, their carers and other staff to achieve these goals.”
#IND2020
International Nurses Day – Our Admiral Nurses
International Nurses Day provides us with an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of the role of our Admiral Nurses here in Lincolnshire.
We have a team of six specialist dementia nurses who work alongside the families of people living with dementia. This project began in June 2019 and we have received just under 500 referrals since then, with each referral being a person living with dementia and one or more family members acting as carers.
The clinical knowledge and skill set of our Admiral Nurses allows them to provide one-to-one support to prevent crisis and build carers resilience. This is done by providing support for today and making the future a little less uncertain. Carers often fail to recognise themselves as such and so many do not access the help they so desperately need. Receiving a diagnosis of dementia, displaying symptoms of distress, an unnecessary hospital admission can all have a devastating effect and impact upon the quality of life of the carer and the person living with dementia. This is where Admiral Nurses can help, by providing people with the necessary ‘know how’, offering practical advice or quite simply ‘being there’ for them. It is not uncommon for people to say to our Admiral Nurses that they have been the only ones to truly listen or to understand their story.
The work our Admiral Nurses do can be more complex as they advocate for families, help to prevent carer breakdown, support decisions around end-of-life care and transitions into care. They aim to make a lasting difference to each and every patient, family member and carer.
Every situation is unique and people’s experience varies, which is why the work of the Admiral Nurse changes day to day.
Our Admiral Nursing team has first-class support from Dementia UK, who take the lead in systematically developing the nurses using a competency framework. Lincolnshire County Council have also been key funders of the project as part of their Carer’s Strategy.
Tom Rose, Admiral Nurse Clinical Lead, said:
“The opportunity to work in a truly holistic manner, balancing people’s needs and working alongside people reaps its own rewards. We share the feeling that the work we do utilises our skills and strengths as nurses and as people.
“Many people value the importance of being surrounded by like-minded people at work. Nurses are no different and therefore we are extremely fortunate to sit within the multi-professional team at St Barnabas. Not only have we been able to contribute to the valuable work of the Hospice, but they have also developed our own understanding and skills in supporting those living with dementia. In recognition of all nurses around the world well done and thank you.”
We aim to keep spreading the word about the work our Admiral Nurses do and to make sure everyone who needs support from an Admiral Nurse has the opportunity.
#IND2020
Year of the Nurse – Anita Willoughby
At St Barnabas, we are celebrating #YearOfTheNurse by highlighting some of our wonderful nursing staff working across Lincolnshire. Anita Willoughby has worked her for six years. She works in our Community Services team, supporting both Hospice and Home and Day Therapy in Lincoln.
Anita said, “St Barnabas is a caring organisation to work for where we are more than just a payroll number. My team is just like a family – slightly mad but very caring and conscientious.
“I was inspired to join St Barnabas as I wanted to focus on palliative care and have more time to spend with patients. The holistic care provided by the Hospice really resonated with me.
“My favourite moments at St Barnabas is being able to share the skills and knowledge we have as a team and watching newly qualified and student nurses bloom within the team.
“Something that stands out to me was when we helped a patient to attend his granddaughter’s wedding before he died. I’ll never forget this.”
Thank you so much to Anita for her dedication to St Barnabas over the years, and the compassionate way she cares for our patients.
#YearOfTheNurse
Lincolnshire Bereavement Helpline is opened in response to the coronavirus pandemic
St Barnabas Bereavement Counsellors have opened a special helpline for those isolating and dealing with the death of a loved one.
Today, St Barnabas Hospice has announced the launch of a special helpline in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As thousands of people in Lincolnshire are isolated, dealing with the death of a loved one alone can affect the way we normally grieve, St Barnabas will offer a listening ear and basic advice to anyone who feels unable to cope or who needs to seek support.
This new bereavement helpline will be open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm, as well as Monday and Wednesday evenings until 8pm. Counsellors will provide a listening ear as well as hints and tips on how to stay calm or manage anxiety, and how to pay respects to a loved one when a funeral cannot take place in the usual way.
The helpline will support people who are grieving from a death of any cause, not just the coronavirus. People do not need to have used the St Barnabas services before to access this helpline.
Tracy Tuffs, Counselling Service Team Lead at St Barnabas Hospice, said:
“These are uncertain times and we understand that people will be feeling more emotional and alone than normal. Our aim with this service is to use our expertise to support people when they need it the most but also understanding that they may be grieving in a different way because of the current situation.
“The calls will be taken by over 25 volunteers, most are trained counsellors or bereavement volunteers who would usually be working in the community holding group sessions. As these have stopped, we were keen to use their expertise to continue being able to support our community.
“Although this helpline will offer that initial response, if someone needs additional, more regular care, we will be able to refer them to the relevant service.”
The Hospice recently put an appeal out for volunteers to help man the phoneline and were overwhelmed by the response.
Tracy said:
“I took an incredible amount of phone calls from trained counsellors and other people wanting to support this helpline, including a lady in Wales and one from Yorkshire! It is fantastic that so many people want to support the Lincolnshire community in the best way they can, and we are very grateful to each and every one of the volunteers who have come forward to help.”
This helpline is accessible only to the people of Lincolnshire due to capacity, and support can be accessed by dialling 0300 303 1897.
For any questions about the service, please email tracy.tuffs@stbarnabashospice.co.uk
Inside St Barnabas: Issue 2
At the point of printing our second issue of Inside St Barnabas our plans had to dramatically change, due to the Coronavirus. But it still includes vital information to share with you, including our supporter stories and amazing contributions from the community.
This worldwide crisis does leave us, Lincolnshire’s Hospice with a huge gap to fill circa £1,000,000 from across Fundraising, our retail shops and weekly lottery. We already have to fundraise £6 million each year to care for over 10,500 people. We know that this unforeseeable situation will force us to change and sometimes restrict our care in the community, but we do not want this to be because of funding.
We appreciate this is very worrying time for everyone across the UK, but if you believe in our mission then you can still support us. We will be thinking creatively in order to recoup these funds, so join us on our website and social media pages to stay updated with ‘virtual’ care and wellbeing information and fundraising sessions to keep you energised and busy.
Here are a few ideas to get involved;
• Dedicate a Dragonfly in memory of a loved one.
• Purchase a bottle of Est.1982 Bramble, of which all profits will go to the Hospice.
• Sort through clothes to donate to our shops at a later date
• Get involved in our ‘Virtual’ ideas – not just for the fundraising but for some light hearted social engagement from a distance. Your wellbeing is paramount to getting through this.
• Sign up for our Colour Dash 2021
• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – stay up to date with what we are doing and how we can support you and your loved ones.
• Using Amazon Smile, and tick St Barnabas Hospice as your chosen Charity
Please stay safe and look after yourself and your loved ones.
St Barnabas could lose £1,000,000 over the next three months due to coronavirus impact
St Barnabas Hospice has launched an urgent appeal for funds as they continue to care for some of society’s most vulnerable during the coronavirus outbreak.
Lincolnshire charity, St Barnabas Hospice, continues to care for those living with life-limiting or terminal illnesses during the coronavirus outbreak. They have today announced that they could lose £1,000,000 over the next three months, which is the equivalent of 20 weeks of care within their specialist Inpatient Unit on Nettleham Road, Lincoln.
Since the outbreak began, the Hospice has seen a huge drop in fundraising income that pays for most of their care. Their charity shops are temporarily closed, and many fundraising activities and events have been cancelled for the foreseeable future.
Chris Wheway, Chief Executive of St Barnabas Hospice, said:
“We want to reassure the public that we are still here, caring in the community. Our Clinical team is as dedicated as ever to continue delivering our outstanding care and support to those who need us. Our nurses, doctors and healthcare staff are working on the frontline to deliver round-the-clock care through this pandemic, much like their NHS colleagues.
“Over the coming months, we know we will be asked to care for many more vulnerable people facing the end of their lives We are also preparing to support our NHS partners as the pressure mounts over the coming weeks.
“Our staff have adapted enormously, with the majority of non-clinical staff working from home. Our Nursing teams have changed their working patterns to ensure we can keep as many of our beds open as possible and our Community teams are adapting hourly to patient and family requests to deliver the best care possible for patients at home. The Wellbeing and Bereavement Support Services we offer are continuing through telephone or video call to ensure no one is alone in these challenging times. We couldn’t ask for more and I am extremely proud of my colleagues for their flexibility through this.
“People in our local communities must do all that is needed to look after themselves and their loved ones. The safety and security of their families comes first, always. My request to the public is simply that if they support the goals we share for local people, and can spare the money, please make a donation today.
“In these uncertain times, small acts of kindness can make a huge difference.”
The easiest way to make a donation is by visiting www.stbarnabashospice.co.uk/crisis. The Hospice is also accepting gifts through the post, but there might be a slight delay in the processing time for these. If you choose to send a gift via post, please include a short note with your name and contact details and post the cheque to St Barnabas Hospice, Crisis Appeal, Fundraising Office, Cardinal Close, Lincoln, LN2 4SY.
Hospice provides eight ways to cope with grief during the coronavirus outbreak
St Barnabas Hospice has put together a helpful guide for those coping with a bereavement during this difficult time.
The coronavirus has caused much worry, anxiety and upset around the world. Local charity, St Barnabas Hospice, understands what a difficult period of time it will be for many, particularly those who are going through a bereavement or are facing the end of a loved one’s life. Whatever your situation, the Hospice has provided eight helpful ways to cope during this period of uncertainty.
Mandy Irons, Head of Wellbeing at St Barnabas Hospice, said:
“The coronavirus is a totally new situation to us all, and one which we must adapt to in the best way we can. Many people will be juggling the worries associated with isolation, work and carer responsibilities whilst also going through a bereavement. At St Barnabas, we provide free, local support throughout the year for all adults across Lincolnshire who may be struggling with a bereavement, regardless of whether their loved one died in our Hospice or not. 
“We would normally offer one-to-one or group counselling, but we appreciate that this won’t be possible in the current situation. Our alternative offering is to share our advice far and wide, as well as providing a call-back service to those who need our support the most. We have put together eight helpful ways to cope with a bereavement during the coronavirus outbreak.”
The St Barnabas Hospice eight tips for coping with bereavement are:
- Give yourself permission to cry or be emotional – it is ok to show your feelings.
- Include the person in some way – perhaps light a candle or raise a toast.
- Give people permission to talk about your loved one. They may be frightened of upsetting you or saying the wrong thing, so let them know it’s ok to share memories, perhaps by starting a conversation or recalling a memory.
- If you are feeling lonely whilst in isolation, reach out to someone. Pick up the phone, send an email, or start a video chat. The power of a friendly face, voice or words will help relieve some of that loneliness.
- Let loved one know how you are feeling. We all grieve in different ways and you may need to let others know about your feelings and worries. They may not know what to say otherwise.
- Take advantage of a daily walk or run. Exercise will help the mind relax and, as long as you comply with the coronavirus regulations, it will do you good to have a change of scenery once a day.
- Sometimes it is easier to talk to people who aren’t family or friends, but who understand how difficult a bereavement can be. St Barnabas has launched a call-back system for those who need that bit extra help and support.
- Above all, be kind to yourself. Remember, this is just another day.
As one-to-one counselling sessions and bereavement groups at St Barnabas have been put on hold, the Counselling team has launched a call-back service for those who need bereavement support during the coronavirus outbreak. Visit www.stbarnabashospice.co.uk/supportive-phonecall to request a call back from one of their dedicated staff and volunteers.
Remembering Mum on Mother’s Day…
Coronavirus
Here at St Barnabas Hospice we are paying close attention to advice on Covid19 from the Government and Public Health and will take measures to protect the best interests of everyone in our care. Our patients and their families remain at the heart of what we do, and we will ensure that our Hospice care will continue in the safest way, which means changes to our current visiting guidelines, staff, volunteering and fundraising events.
A message for our patients and their families and anyone needing to access our care,
Firstly, be assured that we are still here, caring in the community. Our clinical team are as dedicated as ever to provide palliative care throughout this unsettling time and we do not want you to hesitate in contacting us for support. Our Inpatient Unit and Hospice at Home teams are all working to care for people around the county and will continue to do so, whether this be home visits, telephone support or Inpatient care in Lincoln. The Hospice in the Hospital in Grantham has paused its visiting, in line with other Hospital visiting hours.
Due to the current Coronavirus situation we have, sadly, had to take the decision not to allow visitors to most of our patients, within the Inpatient Unit
We appreciate this is likely to cause some distress however, please understand we have a duty of care to keep our patients, their families and staff as safe as possible. We are aiming to contact our patients families on a daily basis with updates regarding their loved ones wellbeing and pass on any messages.
Be assured, for those patients at end of life, immediate family (or next of kin) will be able to visit. Our Nursing staff will discuss this with family members on how this can be facilitated in the safest way.
Thank you for your understanding and co-operation in these unprecedented circumstances.
To self-refer please contact us our Palliative Care Co-Ordination Centre 0300 020 0694
We have made the decision to temporarily close our smaller sites to the public. Please be assured that this will not impact on our Hospice at Home or Inpatient care, but following Government Guidelines is in the best interest of our patients and our staff.
These sites are as follows:
• Grantham
• Louth
• Boston
• Spalding
• Gainsborough
In addition, we have taken the step to close our Bereavement Groups but will continue to offer telephone support. If you have any questions about this, please contact our Wellbeing team directly on 01522 518 246
Visitors and supporters
We are currently following guidance from Public Health England but also taking additional measures to protect the health and wellbeing of patients and families. It is with great sadness we have had to make the decision to cancel all fundraising events for the Hospice until further notice. This includes the Colour Dash, Ladies Lunch, Plant Sales, Coffee Mornings, Gin and Jammies Networking,and a number of Challenge events. Although we understand this is disappointing, this is in the best interest of our patients and their families, staff, volunteers and of course, you our supporters and in line with Government guidelines.
We are pleased to announce our Display at Doddington Hall for our Dragonfly Appeal has been rescheduled for September. This will give you a chance to see the display, outdoors and following social distancing measures. For more information visit the events page here.
If you have your own fundraising activity or have signed up to an events please contact our Fundraising Team via email fundraising@stbarnabashospice.co.uk and we will be pleased to offer support as best we can.
Shops
We are delighted to announce a phased opening for our Shops. This will begin with a ‘Donation Drive-Thru’ event, in which you can book a slot to donate your items safely and at distance at our main warehouse. To book your slot visit the Donation Drive Thru event. Currently, this is the ONLY way to donate your goods and you must book a free slot to attend.
Our Birchwood Shop will open on Monday 6th July, followed by The Forum (North Hykeham) and Wragby Road (Lincoln) on Monday 13th July.
Our Lottery team will continue to run, as normal. This again, will be reviewed on a day to day basis.
Volunteers
We are following guidelines about vulnerable, at risk groups and have made the decision to put on hold our Volunteering roles temporarily who we feel are at risk for everyone’s safety and wellbeing.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Steve Bond, Volunteer Service Manager on 01522 518232
Thank you for your incredible flexibility and outstanding support during this time. You really are an extraordinary group of people.
Staff
Our valued staff are paramount to the continuing of our service and we are taking all necessary measures to ensure that we can deliver this safely and with minimal disruption throughout this period. Our Clinical team will continue, as stated above to work with our patients to offer the best care and our non-clinical team are being asked to work flexibly to support the delivery of our service – wherever that is needed.
We would like to thank our staff for their tireless commitment to the charity and for doing all they can to minimise infection and keep our services going at this time.
Finally, we have seen an unsurprising decline in donations, and event sign ups due to the impact of Coronavirus. We believe the impact on our income to offer free end-of-life care to be significant. Our patients are some of the most vulnerable in the county and we would welcome any support or donation you can give.
Donate now… https://stbarnabashospice.co.uk/get-involved/donate/
Useful Links
We will add useful links for those needing support below:
Lincolnshire coronavirus support
Neil’s Story: Dragonflies
“We have an Acer tree in our garden for Dawn, which helps us feel close to her. This is where our dragonfly will be going, so it can watch over Dawn for us when we’re not there. It’s so important for us to keep her memory alive and celebrate everything that she was. She was my world and I miss her every single day. I see so much of her in Sophie and that is what keeps me going.”
I write to tell you about a very special chance to remember a loved one with an ironwork dragonfly and the amazing support this can provide to a family like mine. Like you I have lost someone close to me, my wife Dawn to terminal cancer.
Dawn and myself were just a normal family when she got ill. We had our 7 year old daughter Sophie, Deefor our black Labrador and a fantastic trip to Disneyland Florida planned. It was while we were away on our dream holiday that Dawn started to get really poorly. We thought it was just a stomach bug and it was only when we got back and she went into hospital that we realised it was serious.
Two weeks after Florida we were given the shattering news that Dawn had stage 4 cancer. A few weeks later we found out her cancer had spread and she only had months to live.
It was such a hard time for us all. Dawn was in agonising pain and we were all trying to come to terms with her illness. Three days after we found out that Dawn was going to die she went into St Barnabas Hospices In Patient Unit. She was only supposed to be in there for a few days for pain management but spent 3 weeks there and eventually died in the hospice.
The time that she was in there helped us all immensely. St Barnabas don’t just look out for the patient they make it about the wider family. Just the week before she died we had our 6th wedding anniversary and they let me take the dog up to see her and take a bottle of prosecco in. It made such a difference. While she was in there Dawn was able to make a bear and memory box for Sophie so that she has memories of her mum. I also remember our last meal together was fish and chips on her bed on the Friday. She died on the Monday. Just little things like that made all the difference.
After Dawn died a wonderful lady gave us books with stories to help me and Sophie talk about what had happened. This included the Dragonfly story and we read one a night for a week. It was so useful for the two of us to be able to relate the stories back to what had happened to us.
This spring St Barnabas Hospice are inviting people like you and me to donate for an ironwork dragonfly in memory of loved ones. Your donation will go onto continue the incredible care that we received as a family. For £34.19 you could get your very own Dragonfly in memory of someone special to you.
All Dragonflies will go into a special display at Doddington Hall from Saturday 4th April until Sunday 19th April as a tribute to those people being remembered. After this people will be invited to pick up their dragonflies either from the display or from various locations to take home and keep in their gardens. In addition, there will be exclusive twilight sessions held at Doddington Hall so you can see the display come to life. Please see overleaf for further details.
Your donation for a dragonfly could be the kindness, care and respect that me and my family received. Following Dawn’s death I was sinking and accessed further support from the hospice by going for group and individual counselling. This helped me hugely. Being within a group gives you different ideas about how to cope or it helps put your mind at rest if you are beating yourself up over something.
Sophie was very lucky to be able to access counselling through her school. But at the moment there isn’t anything like that in our area for children. I’ve noticed that children suffer loss in such a different way to adults. Usually its their first experience of losing someone close and so they rely on adults to guide them through this.
Later on this year St Barnabas will start to offer child bereavement groups and sessions to people in Lincolnshire. This means that children like Sophie can access specialist support to be able to talk about their experiences and their loss. Your dragonfly could be a part of making this happen for a young person or child.
I do hope you can join me in having a dragonfly to remember someone. I urge you to fill in the enclosed form if you do. There are only 1000 dragonflies available to go into the display and an additional 500 to order for collection in June so please order yours today and help care for a family like mine.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story.
Yours Sincerely
Neil Buck
Loving husband and father.