During a year of unprecedented change and uncertainty, our staff at Isabel Hospice have faced an onslaught of unforeseen challenges in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
For some it has meant adapting to new ways of working, while others have taken on entirely new roles as our dedicated workforce continue to pull together to steer us through the coronavirus crisis.
During the early months of the global pandemic, our Community Development manager Christine Novelli, along with Kharlie Staves, who coordinates our Compassionate Neighbours, were both redeployed to support other areas of the Hospice.
They say the experience has not only given them an invaluable insight into the work of their clinical colleagues and the specialist care they provide, but has positively impacted how they deliver their own roles.
Kharlie spent nine months weeks as a healthcare assistant on our In-Patient Unit (IPU), providing hands-on care and comfort to patients and their loved ones.
“I don’t come from a healthcare background, and have never done this sort of work before, but having the opportunity not only to care for our patients, but to get to know them and their relatives, was an absolute privilege,” she said.
“Sometimes, at the end of life, when there is nothing more that can be done from a medical perspective, all you can do is spend time with people. Getting to know them is in some ways just as important.
“It’s the personal touches that mean so much. Being able to give someone a bed bath and put on his deodorant so when his wife comes to hug him, he smells like him. Or having a conversation and hearing their stories, and then being able to recount that to a relative afterwards. It’s all part of the special way we are able to care.”
Kharlie said after her secondment ended, she bumped into one family member whose relative she had helped care for in the supermarket one Sunday morning.
“She burst into tears and said to me ‘you always know the right time to appear’. To think about the impact we have had on that family is just really humbling. Every single person I encountered I’ve taken a little bit of them with me. I’m proud of what I did and it will stay with me for a long time.”
With Kharlie working alongside the nursing staff, Christine meanwhile took up the role of IPU ward clerk, providing the crucial administrative support to ensure the professional and smooth running of the unit. Her many varied tasks included overseeing admissions and discharges, updating patient records, liaising with family members, healthcare professionals and funeral directors, and ordering ambulances and vital supplies of oxygen.
“It was a mad baptism of fire, but a really important and invaluable insight into what the team were facing during a very difficult time for everybody when things were changing on an almost daily basis,” she said.
“It was a huge workload, and at any moment my to-do list could suddenly change, but I loved being at the heart of it all.
Witnessing the effect on those frontline staff members, who were all working together to face this common enemy of Covid-19, was really quite extraordinary.
“It was hard to see everyone under so much pressure; we were all on the ship facing this storm with no-one really knowing where it was going to take us. The only way we’ve gotten through this has been by supporting each other.
“However, despite the challenges of the pandemic, both Kharlie and I are grateful for the opportunity to not only witness and contribute towards the outstanding palliative care of our patients and their loved ones, but also make a whole new bunch of friends.”
