“Providing care and comfort is what we do, but we bring extra joy at Christmas”

I started working for Marie Curie when I was 17 years old. I’ve been working here for 24 years. My mum works for Marie Curie as a Healthcare Assistant as well, so that’s how I got into it. When I was at high school, I’d volunteer at Marie Curie doing arts and crafts with the patients. I worked in the community for about four years and then I started being ward-based, at the Marie Curie Hospice, Cardiff and the Vale, which is where I am now.

As much as people think a hospice is doom and gloom, the atmosphere isn’t like that. It’s all about making that little bit of life that they have left a lot better, a bit more fun. We reassure the families it’s not just a place that people go to die. People do die in our hospice, but we give them such a good quality of life before the end. It’s nice to make a difference in somebody’s life who is finding things really hard.

We see the relief in family members when they come to the hospice. They don’t need to worry about when their loved one is going to get their next pain relief. When people are at home, patients never know how long it will be, whereas at hospices we’re really quick with administering pain relief – the bell goes off and there’s someone there ready and waiting to help.

If something does happen when a patient’s relatives are there, they feel safe with us and we can be there for them too.

I’ve worked every Christmas period since I’ve been working at Marie Curie. I used to work Christmas Eve night and now I do Boxing Day night. It’s nice to get the patients in the Christmas mood on Christmas Eve, ready for them to wake up to their gifts on Christmas Day, which helps them feel valued, that they’re celebrating and not missing out.

I go to the hospice knowing I'm going to make someone’s last Christmas the best it can be. That overrides my sadness at leaving my family, though I do find it very difficult to leave my children to work over Christmas time. My youngest is only six years old, so it is quite hard.

One year we gave the patients little bags full of gifts like chocolates and toiletry sets. The men had traditional shaving brushes and bowls. We’d leave the gifts on the tables next to their beds on Christmas Eve so they’d wake up on the morning and have a gift to open. We decorate the ward with colourful hanging decorations to make it really festive for them.

Providing care and comfort to people is what we do all year round, but we bring extra joy to patients by making them feel festive over the Christmas period. We do everything we can to make them feel like they’re in a more homely environment rather than a hospice, and to let them know that they can celebrate Christmas if they want.

Sometimes people just want us to be there with them. It’s not all about pain relief, sometimes they’re scared and they just want someone to sit with them and hold their hand, not even talk, just be present. Especially in the last hours of life, I believe that some patients know they’re dying, and they are frightened, so just being there with them is enough to provide them with comfort.