Read the latest St Gemma’s Hospice Trustees Report and Financial Statements for the year to 31 March 2023 online.
To expand to full page, click the three dots in the bottom righthand corner and select ‘Fullscreen’.
Read the latest St Gemma’s Hospice Trustees Report and Financial Statements for the year to 31 March 2023 online.
To expand to full page, click the three dots in the bottom righthand corner and select ‘Fullscreen’.
Did you know that every year, 1 in 5 of our patients is cared for thanks to gifts left in Wills? We are honoured that so many people choose to support St Gemma’s in this way – it truly is the most special gift anyone could ever give.
As well as helping to support hospice care, leaving a gift to St Gemma’s in your Will could also lower the amount of inheritance tax paid. Our friends at Brewin Dolphin have put together a handy guide to inheritance tax.
Leaving a gift in your Will won’t cost you anything now, but will make sure we can give patients the end of life care they deserve for the next 45 years and beyond. If you are able to give, we guarantee that it will make a difference.
Find out more about leaving a legacy at https://www.st-gemma.co.uk/yourlegacy
I am a Deputy Nurse Manager and I have worked in St Gemma’s community nursing team for 19 years. Although our In-Patient Unit and Out-Patient services are based at the Hospice itself, the vast majority of St Gemma’s patients are cared for in the community by myself and the community nursing and medical team. We talk about a ‘Hospice without walls’ – we bring many of the Hospice services to you.
I started as a Community Nurse Specialist at St Gemma’s having worked as a staff nurse on a medical unit, in paediatrics and various other wards and as an in-patient sister in another hospice, which all gave me the rounded skillset I need to work in a palliative care community team. I am a line manager, but I still have a small caseload of patients. My main role is to make sure that our team have the right support; training and expertise that they need to provide the best possible care.
A nurse from our team is often the first person a family meets from St Gemma’s when their loved one becomes ill. So as well as being a healthcare professional, each member of our community team is an ambassador for St Gemma’s. We visit people in all sorts of places and situations – we are not there to judge, we are just there to care. Everyone is a person first and a patient second.
Depending on the extent of their illness, a patient and their family might see their nurse for a few days, several weeks, or many months. We can’t take all the sadness away from a situation but we can use our skills and experience to help. There’s always something you can do even if someone is approaching the end of their life, it’s the ‘living’ that’s important. We may need to do complex symptom management or advise about difficult decision-making and arrange for appropriate support from the Neighbourhood teams to help administer pain relief or acquire equipment to help move or care for a patient – and we do it with warmth and compassion at a time that is right for that individual person. That’s what makes the difference. We really do care.
Our nurses are skilled at ‘tuning in’ to each patient to find out where they are in their illness. It is different working in people’s homes – we try to develop trust on a one to one basis so people can be themselves and let their emotions out more easily. From emotional support to complex symptom management, we will share the journey with them.
One of the best things in my job is meeting such brilliant people and see the amazing things they do to support someone they love or care for. It’s humbling to see just how much people do for their loved ones in really difficult and often distressing situations. Despite the troubled world we live in every day, I am privileged to see things that make me think, ‘As a human race, we’re not so bad!’ It’s a joy to walk into a house where you can sense the love and the warmth. You develop bonds with people. It always gives me such satisfaction to be able to support people in a way that’s right for them at such a critical time.
Emma and her mum Jane work in our Exec Admin team. They both come from an education background and after their beloved grandma and mum died at the Hospice in 2016 they both found their way to a job at St Gemma’s. This is their story.
Emma Farrer – AUPC Administrator
“My grandma was cared for in the Hospice in 2016 and that was the biggest reason I wanted to move to St Gemma’s.
She’d been treated for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in hospital for months but she didn’t like the sterile environment and was really unhappy there. So when we found out she could move to St Gemma’s we were so grateful.
The hospital staff cared for her medically but the St Gemma’s team offered so much more than that. Grandma had always been such a foodie but had really lost her appetite and could only really manage to drink protein shakes. After chatting with her one day about all the food she loved, she told me she really fancied a little plate of grapes and cheese. I went to ask in the Bistro and within a couple of minutes a plate was delivered to her room. It wasn’t a case of ticking a box to say she’d eaten that day, the staff really listened and gave her what she wanted. It really moved me and is something I’ll always remember.
Ever since then I frequently checked the St Gemma’s website for job vacancies – I knew I wanted to work in such a special place.
I come from an education background, having worked in schools for several years, so when an opportunity came up in 2021 to provide admin support to the Academic Unit of Palliative Care, I applied. I’m delighted to be able to give back to the Hospice by using my skills and experience in education.
In my day-to-day role, I provide administrative support to the AUPC and work closely with the Head of Education with her diary management, scheduling meetings and minute taking, as well as providing admin support to other colleagues within the AUPC. I am the main point of call for all external training; ensuring that delegates are given the training information, co-ordinate payment, provide IT support and collate and distribute certificates. I also co-ordinate the 6 monthly and yearly reports for the AUPC, which showcases the activity within the department and is distributed to professionals within the organisation and across the city.
I love my role and the culture at St Gemma’s. It sounds strange to say but it’s a very happy place to work.”
Jane Emmett, Senior Medical Team Administrator
“I first came to St Gemma’s when I was at primary school for a celebration event of some kind and I still remember the warm and friendly welcome we all received.
Years later, I experienced the amazing support first-hand when my mum came into the Hospice in 2016. My mum was so much more comfortable and at peace here and I can’t thank the team enough for the care they gave her.
Before coming to work here, I also joined the St Gemma’s choir. My husband was singing as part of the 40 years celebration event at Leeds Town Hall and I joined the choir soon after this. The Town Hall event was a very special evening and I love coming to Tuesday night choir practices and singing at St Gemma’s events; the Christmas Light Up a Life is a particular favourite.
It’s also interesting to think of other connections I have had to St Gemma’s before coming to work here; I used to work in a school that had St Gemma’s as one their House Charities and I came here from Leeds Trinity University – the same order of nuns that established St Gemma’s also helped to develop a teacher training programme at Trinity and All Saints College (TASC) which then became Leeds Trinity University.
Emma used to talk about how great it was to work at St Gemma’s so when I was looking to move from a full-time position to a part time role, I was delighted to apply for a job here and Emma was right about it being a fantastic place to work.
The culture of St Gemma’s is special. Having education, health, retail and charity all rolled into one is so unique. Most organisations are just defined by one thing but there are so many people from different backgrounds with different skills that it makes it a really diverse place to work.
My role is to support the Chief Medical Officer as well as providing admin support to different meetings, inducting new doctors and managing rotas and medical availability calendars.
It’s hands down the best job I’ve ever had and I feel very blessed to be able to work here. It really is a joy to work in such a positive, caring and flexible environment with such a fabulous group of people. This is definitely where I want to be.”