Daughter’s thanks to Hospice at Home

A daughter whose 93-year-old dad was able to fulfil his final wish to die at home says Scarborough’s new Hospice at Home service was her lifeline.

Bill Sweeting, a well-known Scarborough businessman, was one of the first patients to benefit from Hospice at Home.

His daughter, Jennifer Shaw, said that the service had made an enormous difference to her family.

“We were completely overwhelmed by the kindness and support given to Dad and to us as well,” she said. “We have no medical or nursing experience yet we never felt alone or without support day or night. Hospice at Home was our lifeline.”

The service was launched in January by Saint Catherine’s, working in partnership with other health professionals. It officially becomes a joint service with Marie Curie from 1 April at the start of Saint Catherine’s 30th year of care.

The Saint Catherine’s and Marie Curie Hospice at Home Service will now be joint-funded by the two charities and the NHS Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). It will be free for patients.

Teams from Saint Catherine’s and Marie Curie are now working alongside NHS District Nurses and other health professionals to support patients, mainly in the final stages of a terminal illness.

One of the main aims is to make it possible for more people to die a dignified death in the place of their choice. Almost all the 26 patients who have died in the care of the service since January died at home.

Bill Sweeting, who ran Sweeting Engineers before he retired, was 93 when his health began to fail and he was admitted to hospital. His daughter and son-in-law, Peter, travelled from their home in Bristol to nurse him through his final weeks.

“He really wanted to go home from hospital and you say, ‘Yes, of course we’ll do that,’ and then you realise the enormity of what you have promised,” Jennifer said.

“We had no nursing experience whatsoever, our network of support was nearly 300 miles away, we were absolutely lost.”

But when they were referred to Hospice at Home, all that changed. Nursing staff from both Saint Catherine’s and Marie Curie were on hand to help when they were needed night or day. The family could also ring the hospice’s out-of-hours telephone helpline Palcall for support.

“The nights were the most difficult but having someone there really made a difference,” Jennifer said. “I dread to think what it would have been like without them.

“Thanks to Hospice at Home, Dad was made more comfortable and those last five days were incredibly dignified. We could never thank the service enough for the wonderful work they do.”

Sarah Locker, Head of Community Care Services for Saint Catherine’s, thanked all the hospice’s health partners for helping to make changes which were already having an impact on families.

“By working together, we are able to provide even more help for families going through really difficult times,” she said. “The early signs are encouraging that this service will make a big difference to very many families.” 

Karen Torley, Divisional General Manager for Marie Curie, said: “We’re delighted to working alongside Saint Catherine’s Hospice to deliver the Hospice at Home service. This is an excellent partnership, bringing together the expertise of both our organisations.

“Giving people the choice at the end of their life of where they die and putting the support in place to enable them to do that is so important. We’ll be working closely with both the Hospice and the local CCG to continue to develop the service, and we’re already very pleased with what’s been achieved so far.”

Hospice at Home factfile

• Hospice at Home was launched in January, initially funded through bequests to Saint Catherine’s.
• The new joint service will be run by Hospice at Home staff from Saint Catherine’s and Marie Curie nurses, mainly from the Marie Curie team based at the hospice. It will be funded by the two charities and by the Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Group which will be allocating NHS funds towards the cost of the project.
• Referred patients and families will have greater access to medical expertise than ever before from the 24/7 service.
• One of the main aims is to offer access to palliative care expertise for families, day or night, and help patients die a dignified death in a place of their choice. It should mean fewer people dying in hospital.
• Hospice at Home is a pilot scheme, initially covering Scarborough and Filey. There are firm plans to expand into other areas within months.
• Almost 70 patients have been referred to the service since it started. Just over half had cancer, the rest had conditions including heart or renal failure, chronic breathing problems, neurological illnesses or end-stage dementia.