"My mums wonderful care by South Eastern Trust"

My 87 year old mother was diagnosed with maxillary sinus cancer in May this year at the Maxillofacial department in the Ulster hospital. Her consultant was Mr Hanratty and he diagnosed her condition promptly and treated her with such compassion. Miss Trainor a senior Oral Surgeon also cared for mum and was so compassionate in the care given. Senior Dental Nurse McMahon and her team supported mum and myself at the time of diagnosis and at all further review appointments with such care I want to thank them so much.

Mum then had radiotherapy treatment at the cancer centre but unfortunately she did not complete the course prescribed as it was too much for her to take and she was very ill. The staff on ward 3B in the cancer centre who looked after her were fantastic and provided exemplary, patient centred care. Mum had moved into my house on the day of diagnosis as she lived on her own too far away to travel for treatment and appointments. My GPs Dr Reid and Partners took over her care temporarily until she decided what would happen after treatment. They were fantastic and provided scripts as required to ensure mum got all her medications as prescribed.

Unfortunately the cancer spread to her neck and she decided to stay with me permanently at my house where I , as a nurse in the South Eastern Trust myself, could look after her. The Trust promptly organised a full care package with MCare and the carers they sent 4 times daily to provide care for mum were fantastic. District Nursing Sister Conkey,from Bangor District Nursing, and her team including Staff Nurse Reddick, provided support, equipment and nursing care as needed to the highest standard. Nothing was too much trouble and they treated mum so compassionately.

The GP practice took mum on as a permanent patient promptly once the cancer was found to have spread and Dr Hayes called to the house to see mum and introduce himself as she was too ill to go to the surgery. He continued to call out to see her regularly and also phoned me to make sure mum had everything she needed right up until she passed away very peacefully on Thursday 26th November thanks to the wonderful care she got in the community from her GP and District Nursing Team. I want them to know how I appreciated all that they did for her and also how they supported me and reassured me that mum was getting all she needed. Mum was also supported by Hospice Specialist Nurse Debbie, and again, I knew mum was in the best hands with Debbie to guide us as she too was so caring and knowledgeable.  She regularly called to see mum and phoned me to make sure everything was OK and to see if we needed anything.  Such a valuable service provided by Hospice Specialist Nurses.  A Marie Curie nurse called Eileen was also involved in looking after mum. District Nursing referred mum to Marie Curie for night sits when her syringe driver was erected and we were so lucky to get Eileen who sat with mum overnight for the last 3 nights of mums life and was there when she passed away. Eileen was also able to carry out verification of death so we could get undertakers sorted. 

The care in the community my mum received was second to none and I want these guys to get the recognition they deserve.

I have worked for South Eastern Trust for many years myself and was a community staff nurse and District Nursing Sister for a time too. All too often all we hear about are the poor examples of care but I know what good care looks like and my mum received gold standard treatment from everyone in the Trust who looked after her especially the care in the community. It has given me great pride to be part of an organisation that provides such good care as I witnessed my mum receiving this care. This knowledge has helped me greatly as I grieve for my mum. Thank you. To all involved.