"End of Life Hospice care"

About: Forest Holme Hospice

(as a relative),

My mother was admitted and died in our local hospice in mid December 2019.

The nursing and medical care was fantastic and my mother felt relaxed and commented how lucky she was to be cared for in the hospice.

During her last few days of life the staff kept my mother as the focus of their care and attention while at the same time were aware of the needs of the family and kept us all well informed (as allowed by my mother!)

On admission to the hospice the Dr carefully explored my mothers understanding of the situation and any fears or worries that she had. The Dr was honest in her responses without being harsh or too blunt, this approach, while upsetting was also reassuring.

The nursing staff were attentive and caring and responded quickly to control any symptoms.

Overall the only similarity I can give was it was like being in your favourite restaurant - the staff were attentive, aware of the needs of all involved and increased their involvement when required but also kept in the background when they were not required. 

The only minor negative comment I would make is regarding a voluntary group who care and gave out a "goody bag" to the patients. The bag contained shower gel, shampoo and a comb (among other things). This was not entirely appropriate as most of the patients were confined to bed and a lot had been treated for cancer and they did not have a lot of hair. My mother saw the funny side of this but it could have been upsetting for some. My suggestion would therefore to ensure gifts being given out, even from voluntary groups at Christmas / Easter, should be checked to ensure they are appropriate.       

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Responses

Response from Rebekah Wetherly Wilson, Specialty Doctor in Palliative Care, Forest Holme Hospice, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 4 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Rebekah Wetherly Wilson
Specialty Doctor in Palliative Care, Forest Holme Hospice,
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Doctor

Submitted on 05/06/2020 at 16:16
Published on Care Opinion at 17:25


Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story and experiences as a family. I am so pleased you felt your mother was relaxed, felt safe and well cared for and as her family you felt well supported. I will share your kind words with the ward team.

Also, thank you for raising such an important and valid point regarding the ‘goody bag’. This is really valuable and something we will look into and try to ensure is avoided in the future with a simple change. I am pleased your mother took it in good humour, but appreciate this may not be the case for others and could easily be avoided – ensuring such gifts are tailored to the individual.

Warmest regards.

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Update posted by Grateful from Poole (a relative)

Thank you Rebekah for taking the time to reply. Yes, please do pass on my thanks to all the team at Forest Holme.

I hope my other comments regarding the "goody bag" will not cause offence to anyone but hopefully will lead to a small change that could lead to a very slight improvement in an already fantastic service.

Thank you

Response from Rebekah Wetherly Wilson, Specialty Doctor in Palliative Care, Forest Holme Hospice, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 4 years ago
Rebekah Wetherly Wilson
Specialty Doctor in Palliative Care, Forest Holme Hospice,
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Doctor

Submitted on 11/06/2020 at 12:18
Published on Care Opinion at 13:40


It is my absolute pleasure. I also want to reiterate how grateful we are for your honest feedback and we hope others will feel able to do the same. Please have no hesitation in that. We welcome it and hope that through this we can continue to develop and improve our services for all.

Rebekah

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