Reflections from a redeployed healthcare assistant

Kat Wright usually works in the fundraising team at Beaumond House in Newark, Nottinghamshire, however to help out during the Covid-19 pandemic she retrained to be redeployed as a healthcare assistant. Here she tells ehospice what she’s learnt in the new role.

Everyone has been affected by the current Covid-19 crisis, and people have been working hard to fill the gaps, whether that is working from home for the first time or being temporary homeschoolers. At Beaumond House this is no different.

I usually work in the fundraising department as a Corporate and Events Fundraising Officer. While fundraising has been affected by this crisis it’s not the only area; many of the services Beaumond House offers have been at risk as nurses and healthcare assistants have needed to self-isolate. So to help with this I volunteered to train as a Healthcare Assistant.

After intense theoretical training I was given my first shift to shadow a Healthcare Assistant colleague, and I was nervous! Though I am very familiar with the services Beaumond House provides this was the first time I would be in a caregiving role.

After the shift I needed time to reflect - I knew Beaumond House was an amazing place but seeing the care firsthand was really powerful. It showed me how truly special and unique the hospice is –the staff care for the patients as if they are their own family, and there’s a ‘tailor-made’ approach to meeting each patients’ differing needs and wants with compassion, patience and warmth.

Talking to the staff, they all remark that they feel privileged to be a part of the patients’ care, and to be able to help support their loved ones. A lot of time is spent getting to know each patient, and with the hospice having only four bedrooms everyone feels like a family, and it’s like being in a home from home, a safe haven. Even during these unprecedented times as the country struggles with the crisis, there is positivity and laughter in the hospice while the patients’ care and comfort remain an utter priority.

As much as I am helping Beaumond House while the pandemic is ongoing, I feel that working there is helping me get through these difficult and uncertain times, knowing I’m making a real difference to a service that is vital.