Rachel and Annabel: Supporting people at home during their last Christmas

Here we meet Sue Ryder Nurses Rachel and Annabel, both Clinical Team Leaders at Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice where the team will be visiting patients at home throughout the festive period.

“Rachel and I are both ex District Nurses so we’ve been supporting patients in their own homes for a long time,” said Annabel. “Christmas can be a deeply emotional and poignant time for patients and their families but our team are just brilliant at providing the support and care that they need.

“We feel honoured to be there, particularly during Christmas when you know it’s going to be that family’s last Christmas with their loved one. It’s a very intimate time.”

Rachel added: “We are very much guided by the families in terms of what they want when we go into their homes at Christmas. Sometimes they might be feeling quite overwhelmed. All of our carers are amazing at just knowing what people need. Sometimes we can see that people are finding Christmas - with all the festive cheer on the TV and radio – very difficult and the team have to adapt to the situations they find themselves in.

“We will support whatever works for the people we care for – even if they want to celebrate Christmas in July. We did have a family who we were caring for last year who celebrated their Christmas in November. They did Christmas with all the family round, they had Christmas dinner and gave presents while they knew their loved one would still be able to enjoy it and made those memories together.”

Annabel said: “I never mind working at Christmas. Oftentimes you will find families have been treading water for weeks, not really knowing what to do, and then we will come in and we are able to just take some of that stress and worry away for them. It means they can go back to being a husband or a daughter rather than a carer and I think at Christmas especially this is so important. Being able to sit down and just have a chat or organise things for a family gathering so they can concentrate on making this Christmas the best it can be.

“This is honestly the best job I’ve ever had. Our team are experts at making people comfortable in their own homes. You can really get to know the patients and really empathise. The team is there to support the patients but also their families. I remember one patient whose children and grandchildren had all come together, including one who had flown in from America just in time, and they had their day all planned. We were able to go in the morning and get the patient ready for their day and they really appreciated that we were able to facilitate that.

And that’s what we do – we bring love and care to our patients and we try to facilitate families spending some quality time together at a special time. But to be honest I love my job whatever day it is.”

“Christmas itself tends to be a very busy time as some other services aren’t available over Christmas,” said Rachel. “But at Sue Ryder we are there every day so sometimes we will spend longer than usual with families who might need that extra support. To be able to go into people’s homes and support them at this time of their lives is a real privilege and we never forget that. We are lucky in the time and the care that we can give people at Sue Ryder.

“I do like to have a quiet family celebration with the children and my husband as it can be really tough supporting families through their last Christmas with a loved one so I try to give myself a bit of space. But it’s not a sad job. We are empowering people all the time and enabling people to stay at home and be with their loved ones surrounded by their own possessions.

They can be with their beloved 15-year-old spaniel or see the garden that they have loved for years or just watch their favourite programme with the volume turned right up and it’s such a joy to be able to give that opportunity to people.”