Back then hospice care was new and pioneering in its methods, and LOROS looked very different to a traditional hospital setting.
Ann Wells, who joined the nursing team a few months in, and still works on the inpatient ward now, said: “I came to LOROS from the renal unit at the General. LOROS was completely different, you couldn’t have had anything more different. Everywhere had carpets and it was more like a home than a hospital. There was even a hospice cat – Smudge, who slept on the patients’ beds. The feeling here was amazing, very friendly, very positive.”
Another LOROS nurse, Jacky McBlain, who has worked at LOROS since 1990, remembers the patients were always at the heart of everything.
Jacky said: “We were nursing how we were trained to. So, if you needed to take two hours doing a bed bath because that was the pace the patient wanted, then you did that. You had the time to do that. Coming from working at a busy hospital, it was wonderful to be part of.”
LOROS has recently announced that rising costs and fewer donations have forced the charity to reduce some of the care it provides, including the number of beds on its inpatient ward. This has been heart breaking for nurses like Ann and Jacky who have given so much to patient care.
“It’s sad but I still think we make a huge difference. The people we care for – they wouldn’t get that level of care anywhere else. What we offer is special and unique,” said Jacky.
Ann agrees, adding: “I love the job, I love the place. The families feel cared for as well and that’s really important too.”
“Lots of things have changed but the ethos at LOROS is the same. Our good care helps to make death a little easier.”
Anyone wishing to send the hospice a birthday gift is invited to make an online donation loros.co.uk/donation or purchase LOROS’ big birthday raffle tickets loros.co.uk/raffle (over 18s only)
