17th December 2020

"I would like to say a huge thank you, on behalf of everyone at St Peter & St James Hospice, for your amazing support this Christmas. So far, our Christmas Appeal has raised over £50,000, which really will help our patients and their loved ones have the best possible Christmas together. We are so very grateful for the wonderful support you have shown your local community this Christmas. From all of us here at St Peter & St James Hospice, we hope you have a happy and peaceful Christmas together with those you love. Best wishes, Trina

10th November 2020

Hello, I'm Trina Perry and I am the Head of Community Nursing here at St Peter & St James Hospice. I am writing to you today to ask you to stand with us and give us the financial support we need to ensure that we can still provide the nursing care that so many people will need from us over Christmas. Can you donate £23 this Christmas?

I don't need to tell you how difficult this year has already been, and I hope as the year draws to a close you are staying safe and well. As we can all understand, the risk of Covid-19 transmission has been feared by many patients living with cancer and other conditions throughout this year, and therefore they have chosen to stay away from their doctor and hospital at a time when they needed vital medical support. As a result of their worsening symptoms, as well as delays in consultations, diagnosis and treatments, we've seen the condition of many people deteriorate much more sharply than it should. Consequently, local people are facing much more complex and urgent care needs, meaning there is now more reliance on our hospice team than ever before.

Our whole nursing team has worked incredibly hard to keep going and serve everyone as best we can. Being unable to be alongside a distressed patient or family member, to offer comfort by way of human touch at a sad time seemed unnatural. Suddenly our facial expressions couldn't be seen behind our masks, a reassuring smile missing. We've learnt new ways of caring for patients face to face, and learnt how to show that smile with our eyes. When so many other health services are not offering face to face contact, I am very proud of how our nursing staff have adapted the care we give to make sure we can still do this. When people are at their most frightened and isolated, especially this year, we know that our continued, personal support is more important than ever. With so many patients choosing to stay at home due to the pandemic, we have moved much of our nursing care out of the hospice and into peoples homes. We've been able to keep people comfortable with the right equipment, we've sorted out medications, reduced pain and trained family members to support their loved ones when were not there and things get too much.

We've covered thousands of miles across Mid Sussex, because we are determined that no-one will be forgotten, or go without the essential care we'd want for someone in our own family. But, we now have a significant problem. We are facing increasing Covid-19 cases across the country, we are facing the winter season when general symptoms are known to worsen, and we are facing exhaustion. It is no exaggeration to say that my team is exhausted, the pressure has been relentless and none of us have had much time off; but we know we've got to keep up the fight.

But, you know, that's not the biggest worry. We're nurses; we signed up to care for people, whatever it takes, and we're not going to let them down now. We're resourceful, we will find a way. But what really worries me is that there wont be the money needed to pay for the care we deliver.

The harsh reality is that here at St Peter & St James, your local hospice, we have experienced an unprecedented loss in income this year and, with continuing government restrictions in place, we don't know how long this will continue. However this is the money we rely on to fund our nursing care in the weeks ahead. We are working on our Christmas staff rota now, and we'll be out visiting our patients, whatever the weather. On Christmas Day itself we will be staffing our 24/7 on-call service so that families will always have someone to guide them if they need help. We're ready to help people in our community but we need our community to help us.

That's why I'm asking you directly if you could make a donation today. I'm hoping that, in these extraordinary times, we can call on your friendship and kindness to help get us through. We want to be there for as many families as we can, as they face their last Christmas together. It will cost £23 to pay for a typical home visit to a patient this Christmas. That will be enough for us to see the patient, check their symptoms, review their care needs, and have a comforting chat with the family. The cost of fuel to keep one nurse on the road for a week this Christmas is £45. Each visit they make could be the one that keeps that patient at home this Christmas, with their family. Any donation you can make will help to bring our care to someone near you who really needs us.

I sincerely hope you can help. Thank you in advance for any gift you feel able to make. From all of us here at St Peter & St James Hospice, we hope you have a happy and peaceful Christmas together with those you love.

Take care, and stay safe.

Trina Perry, Head of Community Nursing