Myth - The Hospice is a place you go to die

Dr Emma Tempest, medical director and a consultant at St Helena, said:

“FALSE! We admit people into the Hospice for lots of different reasons. 

“It's true that some people get to the end of their life and they, for whatever reason, don't want to die at home and feel more comfortable dying somewhere where we can support them and many of those people do die with us.

“But we also have a lot of patients that come in to manage their symptoms or other worries they've got about their illness and we aim to get on top of their symptoms and then send them home. Last year [2021/22] 46% of patients who were admitted were discharged to their preferred place of care. For a lot of people, home is where they want to be for as much time as they possibly can.

“When people talk about working in maternity services, they often talk about being present at that moment when someone is brought into the world and what an amazing privilege that is. I feel the same about being there at the end of someone's life, that it's a real privilege to be with someone and if I can help make them more comfortable or achieve something that they want to do before they die then that's why we do it.”

Dr Emma Tempest, medical director

Myth - A Hospice is such a sad place to work in

Niamh Eve, Hospice matron, said:

“FALSE! Of course we have lots of poorly people staying with us at the Hospice. We have people that do die here but actually what we're about is living and living right until the last day of your life. 

“Hospice is not about death, we don't focus on that. We focus on people doing joyful things and spending that time with their family. A lot of people that come here say they didn't expect it to be like this. This is a really lovely space. It's very calming. And what I would say to people is we're here and we get to care for people in such a beautiful environment, with our specialists and staff that are trained in palliative care.

“What a blessing that we're able to do that and able to look after patients and their families in such a lovely way. We are able to do things like bring a horse in to see a patient or bring in their pet parrot or guinea pigs.

"We have our fantastic Hospice cat Paddy and the Pets As Therapy dog as well that comes in and brings people lots of joy.  

Niamh Eve, Hospice matron

Myth - Hospice care is not available for everyone

Emma Jackson, Hospice in the Home clinical nurse specialist, said:

“FALSE! Hospice care is for everyone. We see patients from the age of 16 plus. We have a lot of young patients as well as older with different life limiting illnesses, not only with cancer. I'd say a large proportion of my caseload is younger patients and a lot of them they have young families. 

“I bring our Hospice services to them in their homes by visiting them and build up a relationship to get them used to liaising with myself so then we can bring other hospice services to them when they need it.

“When I knock on someone’s door to someone in their 30s who has little children running around, it is difficult at times. I'm a similar age and I have young children myself so it can be quite emotive, but I also like to think that being a similar age, I can hopefully understand what they're feeling and support them with that.

“I think when I arrive for the first time some people are just terrified of the fact that I’m from the Hospice and what that means. But some people are just so grateful for the help and support that they're just so happy that you're there. Hopefully by the end of that first visit we've dispelled some myths and made them feel comfortable with us and happy for us to help them.

Emma Jackson, Hospice in the Home clinical nurse specialist

Myth – Hospice is just for people with cancer

Josh Wilkins, advanced nurse practitioner at the Hospice, said:

“FALSE! At St Helena Hospice we care for everyone with a life limiting illness. It's not just cancer; last year alone [2021/22] 42% of the patients we cared for had a non cancer diagnosis such as heart failure, liver failure, motor neurone disease, respiratory diseases, dementia and renal failure.

“This is one of the reasons that I love working here at the Hospice because we are here for everyone who needs us. We have people of all ages because illness affects everyone, not just the old, and we're here for all people, no matter what the age.

“Being admitted to the Hospice does not mean you’re not going to leave. People are admitted for medical reasons and symptom control, not just for end of life care. Obviously, we do a lot of end of life care and we pride ourselves in that. However, a lot of the patients who are coming to us come in because they're symptomatic. We hope to try and get them feeling a bit better and then we get try to get them back home. 

Josh Wilkins, advanced nurse practitioner

Myth - Bereavement support is only available for relatives of hospice patients

Kaye Riley, bereavement counsellor, said:

“FALSE! We take bereavement referrals for anybody. We have both a children’s service and a service for adults. 

“We give bereavement support to people for a whole range of reasons including Covid deaths, accidents, suicide, baby loss, miscarriage, as well as life limiting illness.

“The first time meeting a counsellor, people probably are quite nervous, they’re not sure what it's all about, how the process works. So sometimes it's about reassuring people that what they're feeling is quite normal and we have a little bit of a chat about the grief process because people just don't know what to expect.

“Initially people may feel very numb and in denial about what's happened and it takes a while for the shock to come off and then it may go into anger. There are several different processes but in grief we don't go from one to the other. It's not linear; it can go backwards and forwards. 

Kaye Riley, bereavement counsellor

Myth - Hospice care is just clinical support

Jenni Homewood, complementary therapy team lead, said:

“FALSE! When most people have a terminal illness, they do enter a very clinical world, but hospice care brings complementary therapies alongside that which focuses on the whole person. We're looking at their physical symptoms, we're considering their emotional well-being, some of the things whirling around in their mind. 

“By focusing on that individual and listening to what they want and what they need because of the stress of the illness, we're able to bring in the level of calm. We're able to sometimes deal with some of the pain issues through massage over some of the areas, and we give them some time just for themselves outside of that clinical world.

“What we see when people have these therapies and these treatments, is a real visible improvement in their whole demeanour, how they walk out of the room, how they come back a few weeks later and say that made a difference.

“One of the things we always say to those who are having our therapies is that what we offer are safe treatments and they're permissible for them to have during their treatment even though it's not a clinical, what we call non pharmacological intervention. 

Jenni Homewood, complementary therapy team lead

Myth – Hospice support is only available 9-5

Richard Welby, SinglePoint clinical nurse specialist, said:

"FALSE! SinglePoint is a 24/7 service and we're here to support not only the patient but their families too. We're very much a receptive service. We like to be as proactive as possible and available as possible, so please don't believe the myth that we're only available 9 to 5 because that's not the case, and that also includes weekends and bank holidays; it's a 365 day and night service.

"When you phone SinglePoint, we should have your records up, particularly if you’re on the My Care Choices Register (MCCR). Even if you're not on the register yet, we can still help and we can advise and support as required.

"If we’re busy with another call, particularly at night, and you have to leave a message, we will get back to you as soon as possible. We won't need to go through lots of other triage systems that you might come across when you ring, for example, 111; we try and be as receptive as possible.

"You don’t necessarily have to be known to the Hospice to call. Obviously we might have more limited information if you're not known to the Hospice or not on MCCR but we will endeavour to help as much as we possibly can.

Richard Welby, SinglePoint clinical nurse specialist

Myth - Hospices are sad

Claire Burton, deputy sister, said:

"FALSE! The Hospice isn't a sad place at all. It's a light and airy place. We laugh together, we cry together as nurses, clinical support workers and all the other people involved in hospice care, we are all here because we want to be here, it's a beautiful place to be.

'I wanted to be a nurse from a really young age, and I couldn't imagine doing any other job. I absolutely love being a nurse, making a difference in people's lives. It 100% fulfils my life coming to work; it's like a second family. We all work with the same aim and that’s for our patients. I give my heart and soul to all my patients like I would my own family."

"End of life and palliative care is such a big passion of mine, making a difference in people's lives, giving patients' choice of how they want to be cared for, where they want to be cared for and where they want to die. When patients and their families are in crisis, they sometimes need a sense of control,  at the hospice we can support, guide, and emphasise, ensuring patients' needs are at the forefront of their care. This gives me so much job satisfaction which makes nursing all worthwhile.

Claire Burton, deputy sister