These nurses are not only experts in palliative care but are a crucial link between all of our Hospice teams as well as working in close partnership with GPs and district nurses to help deliver seamless care that supports the individual needs of each patient.

Their role in connecting care is central to the hospice approach to caring for people with a life-limiting condition, helping to improve the quality of life of patients like Bob Wren.

During Bob’s final weeks, our Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Louise Bennett was able to offer specialist advice and support to help manage his pain and the other distressing symptoms of his illness, as well as provide emotional support and reassurance to his wife Maureen.

Maureen said: “Right from the start, Louise was absolutely wonderful and we knew she was always at the end of the phone if we needed her. She really couldn’t do enough for us, and for that I’m really grateful to her.

“She worked really closely with our GP and together they were brilliant. We felt she was always on our side and that she truly cared, which was the big difference.”

Retired builder and avid fisherman Bob was first diagnosed with cancer in July 2020 after a routine blood test revealed signs of infection and a later x-ray showed there was a shadow on his lung. Further scans confirmed a tumour on his lung as well as cancer in his shoulder and he underwent several rounds of chemotherapy.

However, repeated infections and a stint in hospital with sepsis eventually took their toll and Bob’s health rapidly started to deteriorate.

“He was very stoic,” Maureen said. “I remember one day being very upset and him saying to me that we can’t live forever. He was very matter of fact about it. He was a very brave man and how he endured all that pain I don’t know. He never complained.”

The couple, from Puckeridge who had been married for almost 50 years, were already being supported by their local district nursing team when our Hospice at Home service was drafted in to help make Bob more comfortable and take over his personal care from Maureen.

“I’d been doing everything and needed help, so the Hospice at Home ladies started coming to see us,” she said. “I didn’t even know you could have hospice care at home, I just assumed people had to go into the Hospice, so it was a great relief.

“Bob was very poorly at this point, but the ladies were all so lovely. They were the ones who really cared for him and treated him so kindly. There was never any rush and they took their time to make him comfortable. And for me, I felt I could ask them anything. I’ll never forget their kindness.”

It was Bob’s wish to die at home and he passed away peacefully with Maureen by his bedside in May 2021. He was 76.

Maureen said: “I remember one Hospice at Home lady saying to me when it happens there is nothing I need to do except call the doctor out. I didn’t need to start organising anything in the middle of the night and could leave him until the morning. That advice allowed me to sit with Bob quietly and peacefully until the morning, and that was really comforting.”

She added: “I always tell people how wonderful the Hospice was and I can’t thank them enough for what they did for me and Bob. They are really special people.

“It was the best care we had all the way through his illness, and I don’t know how we would have coped without them during those last few weeks.”