"Palliative Care"

My partner was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2022. 

In this time we dealt with many different teams of people whose endless support and care helped us through a difficult time.

We had spoken about his end of life care, and as we were in contact with the primrose hospice, we knew about the Primrose Unit at the Princess of Wales hospital.

In February 2025, my partner had become very unwell and had a 2 week stay at the Primrose Unit. The kindness, care, compassion, empathy and time given in this stay helped him to understand how different it was to stay here compared to a hospital. His stays in hospital over the years had left him fearing them, not wanting to be there and be on edge and anxious in any overnight stays. But the Primrose took all of these fears and worries away. He became comfortable and I would say happy to be there. The nurses became friends, learning his passions and what made him happy at home. Understanding his relationships with friends and family.  

This knowledge and understanding put him at ease  and made him feel safe.

He then returned home for a few weeks and spoke about when the time came he would be happy to be at the Primrose Unit. 

At the end of March beginning of April 2025 he became seriously ill. He spent a week at a hospital before being moved to the Primrose Unit.

The stay at the hospital was very distressing for him and he hated being there. The moment he found out he was being transferred to the Primrose Unit, his attitude changed and when he was settled in his room there you could see the anxiety lessened.

None of this would have been so without the amazing staff that work on the Unit. 

In his final few days the staff worked hard to keep him comfortable and pain free. They, where possible still spoke to him about his options for care and things they could do to try and help him. Keeping him involved, treating him with dignity and respect made him feel like a person.

Even though at times situations were stressful and the staff had other patients to care for they never made you feel like you were taking up too much time or that you were being silly or unreasonable. At times where I needed to leave the room and I didn't want him to be alone they would sit with him for me.

When he did sadly pass away, the care, kindness, respect and support they gave provided endless comfort to us as a family.

I will never be able to repay the kindness given I will never find the right words to express my gratitude and thanks to all of these staff on the Unit and I will never forget the experience we had.

In what was a very difficult dark time they were a light. They were peace. They were kindness. They were time. They became part of our family.