Devoted daughter Emma Devine has described how Birmingham Hospice has helped her family after seeing first-hand the high standards of care given to her loved ones.
Emma, who is a paediatric nurse, became a long-standing supporter of the hospice after both our Inpatient Unit (IPU) and Community Team cared for several much-loved relatives over the past decade.

Her first experience with the hospice was in 2014 when her uncle, Francis Feeney, was looked after by dedicated healthcare assistants (HCAs) from our Hospice at Home team.
“I come from a family of nurses – my mother and sisters were nurses and even my husband is a nurse,” she said.
“We understand how important it is that people receive the right type of care. The care the hospice provided is different from other care we had experienced.”
During 2018, the family lost beloved mother, Patricia Harnett, who had been diagnosed with cancer.
Emma and her siblings were physically and emotionally drained after spending 14-hour days caring for their mother over a three-week period in hospital.
Patricia wanted to spend her final days at home, so the family organised for the Hospice at Home and Clinical Nursing Specialist (CNS) teams to make her as comfortable as possible and also support them.
“I was exhausted emotionally and physically after caring for mom every day in the hospital, so I burst into tears when the carers from Birmingham Hospice arrived,” she said.
“It was such a relief to have them there to help and support us. You feel like you are being listened to.”
The CNS team was able to help alleviate Patricia’s pain and answer any questions, which helped the family.
“Birmingham Hospice’s team were absolutely fantastic – they answered all of our questions so calmly,” she said.
“The specialist nurses were also amazing – they were able to help mum manage her pain at the end.”
“Mum should have been a social worker. She was the person we went to for advice if there was a problem. She was the glue which held us all together.”
In 2018, Emma’s sister-in-law, Pauline Armstrong, was also cared for in the IPU.

hospice staff.
They experienced more heartache when sister Margaret, who had been admitted to the IPU in October because of worsening cancer symptoms following the withdrawal of her cancer treatment, lost her battle in August 2018.
Emma and her sister, Marcia, as well Margaret’s daughter Carla stayed with her all the time while she was in the hospice. They also used the family room to eat meals.
Hospice staff welcomed relatives from across the UK and Ireland.
Emma said: “We lived there for nearly a week and the staff were amazing. I can’t praise them enough; we had family coming from Ireland, Scotland and Wales but they were so friendly and flexible.
“You have to be a special person to work for the hospice – they were so patient and understanding.”
Following such a challenging year, Emma used our counselling service and took part in art therapy sessions, which helped her come to terms with the losses. She keeps her artwork as a reminder of how far she has come.

“Without counselling I don’t know what I would have done. After losing so many strong people in my life, I had hit rock bottom,” she said.
As a consequence of our care, the family have become supporters of the hospice, previously raising £4,000 and continuing to make donations.
Emma surpassed fundraising expectations over Christmas when her JustGiving page raised £615 for the hospice.
She added: “Hospices are just amazing places; they are so peaceful and welcoming. Without the support and help of the fantastic staff, I don’t know where we would be.
“The hospice is extremely important, and we will continue to support it. We try and raise money when we can, and we’ll always be there to help after everything it has done for us.”
If you want to make a donation and support our work to care for people at the end of their lives, click here.