Here at Birmingham St Mary’s, we have doctors who come to learn more about palliative care and gain experience in supporting people at the end of life.
A doctor named Arifa, recently spent some time with us and here is a favourite memory she’d like to share with you…
After getting to know the daughter of a patient on our ward, I could see she was a little anxious. So I took her away from the bedside and explained the end of life symptoms and what to expect.
Over the weekend, her mother passed away and I returned to a note asking me to ring her. She wanted to thank me for preparing her so well, she didn’t panic and was able to hold her mother’s hand and be calm at her death.
It was very nice to hear this from her and I was very touched.
As part of Dying Matters Awareness Week (8th May to 14th May), we are encouraging people to find out #whatcanyoudo and will be sharing various stories and advice.
We’ve also created a leaflet to explain the dying process and what to expect when someone enters the final stage, to find out more click here to download ‘Caring for someone who is approaching death’.
