Supporting the hospice from the wards to the board

Ranjita Sen is the Director of Applications Support, Performance & Information at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. She first heard about her local hospice in Essex when she was given the charity’s Christmas calendar, and has become more and more involved with them over the years. Here she tells us why she’s gone from volunteering on reception to becoming a trustee.

I had been thinking about giving something back to the community when I found out about Saint Francis Hospice. I’ve always been involved in some form of voluntary work since I was at school. After we moved to the area my neighbour, whose husband was so well looked after by the hospice during his illness, gave us a hospice calendar for Christmas.

This became a lovely yearly gift and we still look forward to it every year. Through chatting to my neighbour I came to know more about the work of the hospice, and in my head I built up a picture of it being a place of warmth.  

Giving something back

As my son got older and was completing his GCSEs, I thought it would be a good time to start thinking about turning my wish in to reality, so I contacted volunteer services. After being trained by an extremely helpful fellow volunteer, I was working reception shifts and manning the hospice shop one Sunday evening a month.

Sundays are generally a quiet shift, but I got to know many other volunteers during handovers and even attended social gatherings with them. More importantly I became closer to the mission of the organisation: to help people live with dignity. The warm place I had imagined had become reality.  

I witnessed sadness at times, but was impressed by the dedication of the staff caring for patients and their families at such a difficult stage in their lives.

At times I would walk away from the shift thinking about how challenging it must be for the families, but that would almost immediately be replaced by a rush of pleasant thoughts, knowing how much the hospice is doing to support them.

Extending support

After about two years, I wanted to get even closer to the hub of the activity, so I approached volunteer services management again expressing an interest in moving on to ward duties.

At the same time I saw an opportunity and applied for a governance committee adviser role. When I was offered the role I didn’t hesitate to accept it. It was one way of extending my support to the hospice strategically, and equally an opportunity to put some of my professional skills to use in another healthcare-related setting. I feel really privileged to be able to contribute to the hospice both operationally and strategically.

Covid has changed the way we work, and my Sunday shift has become restricted with the need to wear protection and keep a safe distance from the patients. However that doesn’t mean I can’t stop to have a chat with them, or fulfil my usual tasks. It's also been really admirable to see how the hospice has adapted to the challenges of Covid.

Becoming a trustee at this time has also been challenging, as I would have benefitted from being able to walk the pathways of the hospice a lot more. I also would have valued more face-to-face engagement with the other trustees, but meetings have to be conducted online which isn't quite the same.

From operations to strategy

My fellow trustees have been very welcoming however, and thanks to my previous volunteering activities I have some insight into the hospices' wider services. Hopefully we will resume meetings on-site safely by the end of this year, as there is always something to be gained from being among all the activity, even for a trustee board.

After 16 years in the NHS, I owe a lot to them for my personal and professional development, and I can’t think of better way to extend that learning than to apply it to this local charity. I’m fortunate I can volunteer my time quite seamlessly around the tight schedule I have in the NHS.

I feel as though I am at the very start of my trustee journey with the hospice, and there is so much I would like to contribute over the next few years, from board to ward.