Sara, Senior Healthcare Assistant, Hospice at Home team
“I feel proud to work for Rowcroft and to provide our unique and expert service”
As a Senior Healthcare Assistant for Rowcroft’s ‘Hospice at Home’ team, Sara provides end-of-life care to people in their own homes across a wide area of South Devon from the moors to the sea.
Sara’s work takes her across 300 square miles of South Devon, from the rugged hills of Dartmoor to the sandy beaches of the coast. Her ‘patch’ is a vast and challenging area, with dense traffic in the holiday periods and often snow and ice on the moors in the winter. Here Sara tells us more about her professional role in providing expert and specialist care to patients and families.
“The H@H team support and work alongside the family to enable their relative to spend their last days in their own home, as is their wish,” says Sara. “We provide physical, spiritual and psychological support and ensure empathy, compassion, respect and kindness run through every aspect of our job. Skills in all areas of communication are essential. We need to give choices and help people make informed decisions about what support is appropriate for them, knowing that their needs will change frequently.
“Working as a Senior Healthcare Assistant with the Hospice at Home Team has been one of the highlights of my career. Being welcomed into a stranger’s home at such an emotional time is an honour. It is essential that we use all forms of communication to immediately assess the situation we are entering, as well as initially obtaining consent to stay and provide care and support. I have the luxury of time and I can provide excellence in end-of-life care, ensuring dignity and respect for patients at all times. I can get to know people and gain their trust, carrying out the small tasks that make a difference and preparing the family for what they may expect to happen, thereby hopefully allaying some of their fears of the unknown. Symptom control is critical at the end of life, so it is important to observe and report as necessary. Sharing our knowledge and experience with carers is part of our role.
“I feel proud to work for Rowcroft and to provide our unique and expert service. We work as a strong team, going above and beyond whenever possible because we are all passionate about what we do.”
