Peterborough Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice staff speak of 'privilege' of helping families during the most difficult times.

Between them, Dr Sarah Treadwell and Sue Walton have nearly 30 years’ experience on the wards at the Hospice.

They work on Peterborough’s only specialist palliative care inpatient unit, which looks after people with life-limiting conditions and supports their families.

The dedicated pair have carried on caring throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, alongside their colleagues.

As part of Sue Ryder’s urgent fundraising campaign ‘We can’t stop’, Dr Treadwell and Sue talk about the impact of the pandemic and reflect on their experiences delivering care to local people over the past few decades.

Dr Sarah Treadwell, Speciality Doctor said: "It is a privilege to be there for patients and their families at such a difficult time in their lives. When someone has asked for you specifically to be there with them at the end, you feel like you have made a difference.”

Dr Treadwell, from Leicestershire, first joined healthcare charity Sue Ryder 20 years ago, in 2000. She started working at Sue Ryder’s Thorpe Hall Hospice in 2002 and says she “didn’t look back”.

She is part of a multidisciplinary team which includes fellow doctors, Sue Ryder nurses and nursing assistants, therapists and bereavement support workers. They care for each patient holistically, combining medical care for managing pain and other symptoms with emotional, practical and spiritual support.

“I did a number of hospital jobs many years ago but I prefer having more time to spend with patients and focus on giving them the best quality of life possible,” shared the mum-of-three, who achieved an MSc in Palliative Medicine in 2011.

“When I sit down with a patient at the hospice, it can be the first time in their whole illness that someone has been able to sit and listen to them from the beginning.”

Over the years, the hospice team has worked hard to go the extra mile and help to facilitate patients’ final wishes and requests – from cinema nights to arranging weddings with just hours’ notice.

“It sometimes feels like you are more part of a family than work colleagues,” Dr Treadwell added.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic began in March, Dr Treadwell and the inpatient unit team have faced the many challenges that it has brought, including wearing lots of PPE and needing to restrict visitors.

“It has been very difficult and busy. There are lots of new rules to get used to and we have had to adapt the way we deliver our palliative care,” she said.

“Wearing so much PPE is a big barrier as people can’t see your expression. Communication is so much harder.

“I show my patients my photo card, so they know what I look like without my mask on.”

With Christmas just a few weeks away, Dr Treadwell is preparing to spend Christmas Day working on the wards.

“Christmas is a unique time at the hospice. Pre-Covid, we were able to welcome local choirs and musicians to perform for our patients and put on festive activities and Christmas fairs.

“This year will undoubtedly be different and more challenging, but we will do everything we can to make it special for families.”

Sue Walton, a Ward Clerk said: "“Over the past ten years, I’ve never felt waking up in the morning that I didn’t want to go to work. I love working at the hospice.”

Sue from Stanground, Peterborough, has just celebrated a decade of dedicated service to Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice.

Working at the hospice is completely different to Sue’s previous roles, which include working as a travel agent and for an insurance company. When Sue took voluntary redundancy and saw the position of Ward Clerk advertised, she thought she had “nothing to lose”.

“Ten years later, I am still here!” she added.

Sue plays a key role in keeping the inpatient unit running smoothly, including helping with admissions, booking transport for patients who might be going home or to appointments, and providing administration support such as referral paperwork and patient welcome packs.

She said: “I do what I can to make patients and their families feel as comfortable as possible and have peace of mind.

“We have had to restrict visitors since the Coronavirus pandemic started, which has been really hard for everyone.

“I speak to a lot of people on the phone, from liaising with staff at local hospitals to helping patients’ family members. I do what I can to reassure people and let them know that things might be different at the moment but they can always call us.

“Pre-Covid, I once arranged for a Pets As Therapy dog to come and surprise a new patient who was really missing her own pet dog. She was so happy at the gesture and felt much more relaxed.

“Many people are nervous about the thought of a hospice, but I do what I can to fly the flag and tell people what it is really like – that it is a calm and special place.”

Over the past ten years, Sue has also worked as a Nursing Assistant caring for in-patients.

“I once helped to look after a husband and wife,” she remembered. “With a colleague’s help, we gave the wife some pampering to help raise her spirits, including doing her hair and make-up. When we showed her husband the results of our mini makeover, he said she looked just as beautiful as when they first met.”

It’s a crucial time for Sue Ryder, the national healthcare charity which runs Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice. Last month, the charity was forced to launch its second urgent fundraising campaign of 2020 in response to the impact the Coronavirus pandemic has had on its funding. To find out more and to donate visit www.sueryder.org/winterappeal20Alternatively, if you work in care or nursing you could make a difference by joining Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall Hospice’s expert and compassionate team. Visit www.sueryder.org/jobs for more information.