As a senior nurse at Marie Curie in North Yorkshire, Susan Ebbage is responsible for supporting both the charity’s staff and patients.
Ms Ebbage allocates nurses to patients after receiving daily updates on their health.
The nurses then visit the patient’s home, introduce themselves to the family and care for their loved one overnight, usually from 10pm to 7am.
Ms Ebbage, who works regularly across the Harrogate district, said:
“This allows the families to have some rest. Patients are reassured by their presence and family members are able to go to sleep. It’s an incredibly emotional time and therefore you can’t put a price on a night’s sleep.
“A lot of the families, particularly in Harrogate, live abroad and that can be horrible for them. It’s about identifying situations like this and trying to give them support where we can.”
Twenty five years
Ms Ebbage has been working in her current role for around eight years and has been with Marie Curie for 25 years.
She lives in the Yorkshire Dales, and while her role is often administrative, she still visits patients in the area when she is needed.
She said:
“I trained at the Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) and was a community midwife. I always loved patient care. I love being able to support them and helping them be able to become independent and regain control. These are all things as human beings we dread being taken away from us.
“If people are dying or ill, I like being able to take good care of them so they don’t feel like a burden.”
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Ms Ebbage said a highlight of her Job was working with families who clearly love the person they are looking after.
But she added that there were also difficult issues that had to be dealt with.
‘Sorrows, sadness and regrets’
She said:
“I never tire of seeing families care for their own well. I get upset when I see families who aren’t interested. But you have to try and understand what has gone on. You listen to sorrows, sadness and regrets.
“We talk to people who tell us quite dark things at times. We have to ask them what to do with that. That might involve getting a minister to go and see them.
“We also have to keep an eye out for safeguarding. It’s not just about abuse or cruelty. Some are difficult to spot straight away. We have to make a case and follow that through.”
Ms Ebbage said the work of Marie Curie was really important.
She added:
“We have struggled like may other charities over the last two years. The nurses have been outstanding. Up to 300 nurses go out seven nights a week across the country.”
Co-ordinated approach
Ms Ebbage explained that the charity worked in conjunction with Saint Michael’s Hospice in the Harrogate area. They have meetings three times a week and share patients. Marie Curie also works with services and charities including Harrogate end of life co-ordination, NHS Continuing Healthcare and Macmillan Cancer Support.
She said:
“We have a co-ordinated approach to care in the Harrogate district. It’s really important and we have got that down to a fine T. In Harrogate there are a lot of care providers. This ensures people get the most appropriate care they need and we are not wasting resources.
Fundraiser
The Marie Curie Brain Game is returning to Yorkshire for a fourth time on Thursday, January 26 and for the first time in Harrogate in the newly refurbished Majestic Hotel & Spa.
Guests will be treated to a drinks reception before enjoying a gourmet three-course dinner. The celebrity-hosted quiz will run throughout the evening and guests will also have the opportunity to bid for exclusive lots in the live and silent auctions, and win prizes in the grand raffle.
This black-tie event invites companies from across Yorkshire to come and enjoy an evening of brain-teasing entertainment and battle it out in the ultimate corporate quiz to be crowned Yorkshire Brain Game champions.
To book a table, click here.
