Pilgrims Hospices offer a wide range of support to people across east Kent who are living with life-limiting conditions – on its wards and in its Therapy Centres in Ashford, Canterbury and Thanet, and also out in the local community within peoples’ own homes.
One such service is Hospice at Home; working with those considered to be within the last 72 hours of life, this vital team of Senior Healthcare Assistants (SHCAs) support families through the dying process at an incredibly difficult and important moment. Between them, they travel across the whole of east Kent to offer their skills and support. They work in shifts from 07:30-21:00, always in pairs.
Mandy Hilden, Hospice at Home Team Leader
The Hospice at Home service began in 2009 and is a small team of seven: Mandy Hilden (Team Leader), Becky Baldwin, Sharon Beal, Daniel Brown, Tracy Fullarton, Sharron Hill and Rachel Kendall-Jones.
Referrals to the service are made via GPs, Pilgrims’ multidisciplinary team, a hospital palliative care team or district nurse, and the Hospice at Home team aim to respond within four hours.
If a patient wants to be discharged from hospice or hospital care to die at home, the team help to make this possible; 24-hour care at home is not available, but the team can visit a couple of times a day to provide support and personal care.
Duties are numerous and varied, and no two days are the same.
The team said:
“We help with personal care and offer emotional support to families and carers. We’re not time-restricted like some care providers are, so it’s nice to be able to give people our full, undivided attention for as long as they need it.
“We have a good relationship with district nursing teams, who we contact if a patient needs medicines administering. We also report any changes in a patients’ condition to them and the palliative specialist nurses, so that their care is joined up and tailored to them.
“Although we can’t offer overnight sits, we can refer to organisations that do so families are able to rest and catch up on some sleep.
“Hospice at Home is the hidden gem of Pilgrims’ care. There’s often an assumption that we only offer inpatient units on the ward, but there’s so much more. It’s such a rewarding role, and it’s a real privilege to be allowed into peoples’ homes at a very difficult time. We’re not there to take over, just to support; you can see the pressure taken off family members when we arrive. It’s lovely to go home knowing you’ve done a good job.
“It can be an emotionally and physically challenging role, but we also have an overwhelming feeling of pride and reward in what we do. It’s a real privilege to be able to support patients and families at an extremely personal time.”
It’s such a rewarding role, and it’s a real privilege to be allowed into peoples’ homes at a very difficult time. We’re not there to take over, just to support; you can see the pressure taken off family members when we arrive. It’s lovely to go home knowing you’ve done a good job.
Hospice at Home team
Hospice at Home has continued to be a much-needed and appreciated service during COVID-19. Early on in the pandemic, no visitors were allowed in the hospice buildings; as people were advised to stay home, more were able to care for loved ones there. This meant that many patients chose to be at home with loved ones at the end of their lives. The team was also deployed to the hospice wards and wider community, supporting where needed, especially at the height of the second wave over Christmas 2020.
The team holistically accompanies patients in their journeys – from identifying when they’re nearing the end of life, providing last offices for loved ones, and caring for the family afterwards.
They continued:
“Most SHCA skills are transferable to other roles, particularly when working on the hospice wards, which we have often covered as a team. During the pandemic, we’ve regularly supported our colleagues at this very challenging time.
“Our team became trainers for local nursing and residential homes, showing staff how to ‘don and doff’ PPE correctly. We also assisted a nursing home that was in crisis when their staff and residents all contracted COVID.”
The team’s compassion and commitment is reflected in feedback from families they have supported:
“The carers who came twice a day were amazing, they helped wash my dad, used his favourite body spray, combed his hair. He looked so much more himself and comfortable afterwards, with dignity.”
“The support I received caring for my sister was unbelievable, the team were amazing with everything. I felt like I had gained two more special sisters during this difficult time.”
“They looked after my father daily, looking after his personal needs. They were and are amazing. As soon as they started with us, their confidence and manner calmed us all down. A ray of light in a very bleak time.”
Kate White, Head of Nursing at Pilgrims, said: “Hospice at Home offer an invaluable service to those wishing to die at home by attending their home to give expert personal care in the last few days of life. They are able to take the time to support the patient and their loved ones at a most difficult time, with compassion and dedication. I receive numerous compliments from family members who’ve been so grateful and relieved for their input, as it means the patient’s wish to die at home is fulfilled. The team is vital to our overall hospice service, giving people choice and an alternative to inpatient care.”
Main image, L-R: Rachel Kendall-Jones, Sharon Beal, Daniel Brown, Sharron Hill, Tracy Fullarton, Becky Baldwin
Each year Pilgrims Hospices give care and comfort to over 2,500 people in east Kent who are coming to terms with an illness that sadly cannot be cured. The charity support patients to live life as well as possible until the very end, free from pain and distress.
14th September 2021
Valued volunteer Dea will be sadly missed at Pilgrims Hospices
Long-time Pilgrims volunteer, Dea Martindale from Sturry, passed away under the care of the hospice she supported and loved on 23 August 2021.
Dea who was 79, had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in October 2020 and had become more unwell suddenly in early August 2021.
She spent a short while in the Canterbury hospice before returning home under Pilgrims’ Hospice at Home care team.
Corrina Collins, Dea’s daughter said: “Mum was extremely proud to be a volunteer at the hospice, it was an important part of her life and very much her priority in her retirement years. She was a member of the reception team and had been known to sit with patients who had no family or visitors to give them comfort and support.
“My sister Nichola and I can’t thank the Hospice at Home team enough, they were absolutely amazing; just like angels. They were not only wonderful with Mum in her final few days, but a tower of strength for us too. Nothing was too much trouble, and they were indeed a great comfort to us all.”
Dea with social worker Lynne Digby during a marketing photo shoot for Pilgrims
Over her 24 years of dedicated volunteering for the local end-of-life charity, she was often seen on a Sunday afternoon and always during the festive season, supporting wherever she could. After her husband Ken was cared for on the Canterbury hospice ward, she became a regular member of the hospice reception team. She also volunteered within the Therapy Centre, helping service users with crafting activities, lunches and plenty of cups of tea. Her generous and smiling nature would often get her involved with the Pilgrims marketing team, being part of photo shoots to promote hospice services. She was also a keen fundraiser, supporting the fundraising team at events including Summer and Christmas fairs. Car boot sales were also something she enjoyed over a number of years, she collected and stored goods to sell, raising tens of thousands of pounds to help keep Pilgrims’ valuable services running.
Corrina added: “Mum was an independent and strong lady, it was crushing to see her become poorly so quickly. However, it’s been lovely to hear the nurses speak so fondly of her and to know she was truly valued as a volunteer.
Mum was extremely proud to be a volunteer at the hospice, it was an important part of her life and very much her priority in her retirement years.
Corrina, Dea’s daughter
Adrian Matthews, Pilgrims Hospice Services Manager said: “I took over as Site Manager at Canterbury three and a half years ago and as such took over the volunteers on reception as their manager.
“I have to say, Dea will forever stick in my memory as one of my trusted members of the team but I would hope as a friend as well.
“An absolute gem of a person and someone I am very proud to have come to know.”
Dea received the Lord Mayor of Canterbury community service award in 2013 for her work at the hospices.
A Pilgrims team member said: “It is with great sadness that we say good-bye to Dea, she will be missed by all of us, and will remain a wonderful testament to the amazing work that our volunteer workforce do at the hospices.”
Dea with her daughters, Corrina and Nichola
Dea had discussed with her daughters a bucket list of things that she wanted to achieve over the past year, which included some strong wishes for her funeral arrangements and to ensure her very last car boot sale took place.
“Me and Mum’s very close friend Jenny, were able to carry out her boot sales wishes, selling about 90% of the items gathered with all money being donated to Pilgrims Hospices, the remaining items have been given to the Pilgrims Hospices shops. I know Mum was really pleased and satisfied that she was able to make this final commitment to her much loved hospices” added Corrina.
Although Dea was unable to fulfil her bucket list due to COVID restrictions and her rapidly failing health, the daughters’ plan to tick one of their mum’s wishes from the list by taking a trip to the South Bank and sipping cocktails in her memory.
Dea’s funeral will take place on Monday 27 September at Barham Crematorium at 3:20pm.
Each year Pilgrims Hospices give care and comfort to over 2,500 people in east Kent who are coming to terms with an illness that sadly cannot be cured. The charity support patients to live life as well as possible until the very end, free from pain and distress.
12th October 2018
Rosemary shares a Hospice at Home experience
Rosemary Lamb shares her experience of Pilgrims Hospice at Home services from her home in Herne Bay.
My husband William, or Bill as he was always known to everyone, was 74 years old when he passed away earlier this year. After many years coping with chronic restrictive pulmonary disease (CRPD), Bill’s health deteriorated, he spent more time in hospital, and after being admitted in December 2017, was referred to Pilgrims Hospices for more tailored support.
We came along to Pilgrims Hospices to meet with the Community Team, here we gained a greater knowledge of the services that could help Bill to manage his symptoms and help him to stay independent for as long as possible.
His wishes were to remain at home with family in his final days, this was made easier with the support of the Hospice at Home Team from Pilgrims.
Bill, a local milkman and tradesman who was born and bred in Sturry near Canterbury. I was a dental receptionist from Canterbury, we met while walking through the old bus station at Canterbury and our journey began right there. We were married for 54 years and apart from a few years living in Herne Bay, we raised our family of three daughters Jane, Julie and Sharon in Sturry.
We used Pilgrims Therapy Centre that offered breathing and relaxation classes amongst many others. Going to the hospice had a comforting feel, just like home, with a lounge to relax and meet others who were being supported by the charity. It was never a place that held any fear for us, everyone was there to help us make positive decisions and there was never a doubt that Bill’s care and wellbeing was of the highest priority for everyone we came into contact with. We never considered the hospice, as a place to die, more as a place to share our experiences and benefit from the wonderful care team and their depth of knowledge and experience.
They had a natural understanding of what Bill needed along with supporting me and the family as his carers.
Rosemary.
Mandy Hilden from Pilgrims Hospice at Home with Rosemary
I attended Carers Days at the hospice, which gave her an opportunity to meet other people coping with similar situations. It definitely helped me feel more confident, knowing there are so many others who felt the same. Talking really helped.
I attended relaxation classes with Bill and almost had to pinch myself, I was so close to falling asleep, it was marvellous.
As Bill became housebound the Hospice at Home team were wonderful, helping to manage Bill’s everyday needs, keeping him smiling and also supporting me with their kindness, nothing was too much trouble.
They had a natural understanding of what Bill needed along with supporting me and the family as his carers. Mandy from the Hospice at Home Team helped to organise a hospital bed for our home when Bill became bedbound. The Hospice at Home visits were welcomed by both of us, we felt supported and care for, he was so much, he was so much happier, relaxed, at ease and was treated with dignity and respect in every instance.
We, as a family, felt the services given from the charity were fantastic and thank them for helping to make Bill’s days at home very precious to all of us.
Each year Pilgrims Hospices charity support hundreds of local people coping with a life limiting illness and their families. The charity offers a range of services: from end of life care given on its wards, Hospice at Home, Community Care and its Wellbeing and Social Programme, supporting people after they are diagnosed, to live well and stay independent.
