'Hospice is a place to live'

Jersey Hospice Care has to be one of the best known charities in Jersey, but unless you need its services yourself, or have a friend or relative that does, it is unlikely that you would have been inside the building at Mont Cochon, or seen its work first-hand.

Not knowing something leads to mystery, and that often leads to myth, which is usually that Hospice is a sad and depressing place.

I must admit before I moved to Jersey I thought that about hospices too.

My view has completely changed over the past few years, but never more so than in the last couple of weeks.

Visiting Hospice's newly opened facilities was one of my first reporting jobs in Jersey.

I was blown away by the beauty of the place, both inside the extensive facilities and the wonderful view from the garden (of which each room has a view).

I remember saying "if you're going to die, I can't think of a nicer place" and I've said that on every visit since.

But wonderful facilities don't make Hospice what it is, the people do.

I've met many of them, both as an occasional fundraising volunteer and during my work as a reporter, and I've never met anyone who isn't warm, kind and welcoming.

From the full-time staff to those who give up their time for free to help people, you couldn't meet a nicer group of people, and these people help make the end of people's lives that much easier.

These people deliver services that transform the ends of people's lives.

The nurses that deliver home care allow people to stay in familiar surroundings, with their family close by.

Their daily visits become visits from friends, and they can be called upon at any time.

Staff Nurse Kim Hancock told me of one patient that "if she's got any breakthrough pain overnight then she can call the hospice and one of the nurses will come and give her a dose of painkiller if she needs it."

Not a bad service.

Day Hospice gets people out of the house (sometimes for the only time that week) and into a comforting environment where they're fed well and pampered with treatments until they feel more like themselves again.

As Day Hospice User Caroline Coleman said to me, "it's like coming into a great big hug".

And the bedroom facilities at Hospice mean people can die with dignity in a beautiful location, surrounded by staff.

A woman I met called Mary told me that is where she wanted to spend her final days, as "I'd rather have the sanity of hospice, and the love, and just be with them, I want to be with them".

So I’d task you to meet anyone who has experienced Hospice first-hand who describes Hospice as a sad and depressing place.

As Caroline told me, "Hospice is a place to live".

And what better commendation could the charity ask for?