"End of life care & compassion"

In the last week of my mum’s battle with cancer we ended up on the medical assessment ward in Causeway Hospital, Coleraine. This was not our local hospital and had been redirected there from Antrim Area Hospital. The nurses and care assistants on this ward were so kind to my mum and our family as a whole. As we were sitting my mum the family were accommodated (one at a time) and never once made to feel as if we were in the way. During this time we were my mum’s voice and all staff responded to any requests for help with medication, food or repositioning. My 80 year old dad was especially well cared for and staff learned our names as well as my mums. I’d like to mention as many staff by name as I can but this list is not meant to be definitive and we really appreciated the care given during this time. Nurses: Geraldine, Stephanie, Chloe, Emma, Glenn, Dune and Rosemary. Care Assistants: Suzanne and Francis.  

As  it became clear that mum was in her final days and hours staff called into check on mum (beyond requirements), left the family coffee and tea, provided pain relief and sought help from doctors as quickly as possible during some very painful times. The deputy sister in charge on Thursday was brilliant and I’m sorry I can’t remember her name. Many of the aforementioned came to let us know that mum has been a pleasure to nurse and to pass on their sympathies in due time. 

As a grieving family we wish to thank the staff for going that extra mile and to know that all the little things made such a difference to us. Thank you for helping us in this journey and for caring so compassionately for my mum.

The only thing that could have been improved is having centralising information on a multi disciplinary patient and access to off licence pain relief during the night.