John's story
John is our Specialist Palliative Care Social Worker at St Leonard’s Hospice, working on the In-Patient Unit and as part of the Wellbeing and Outreach team.
Here, he talks about his role at the Hospice and how he supports those in our community.
“It has two parts. One part is the traditional social work role, where I’m providing support on a practical level, often signposting people to other services that are specialist in their own way. The other part is the specialist palliative care element, where I’m supporting families and patients who are adjusting to having a life-limiting illness and all the changes that brings.
“I often help people to look at how they want their care to be in the future, focusing on what’s important to them as time goes on. This may include things like where they want to die, and whether that’s at home or in the Hospice. To support with this, we have our other Hospice services, like Hospice@Home, and it’s great to be working as part of that wider team.
“To me, St Leonard’s is all about patient care. It’s about focusing on the people in our local community who are going through a really tough time, where they’ve had an often-shocking diagnosis of a life-limiting condition, which their families are also struggling to adapt to. We support them in whatever ways we can, whether that’s in the Hospice building, out in the community in their homes or alongside other organisations that they may already be connected with.
“Our services at the Hospice are available to every person in our community who needs them, and the Wellbeing and Outreach team strives to reach people who traditionally haven’t accessed our services, or perhaps think the Hospice isn’t for them.
“If people find themselves in a situation where they are dealing with these kinds of difficulties and a life-limiting illness, then we want them to know what we’re here to support them and their family. They only need to get in touch.”
