Rennie Grove Hospice Care is responding to the national shortage of nurses by launching an appeal encouraging local people to get behind its drive to recruit more newly qualified nurses to join its team of end-of-life care specialists.

Hospice at Home nurse Clare Ghey said: “I feel so lucky to be the first-ever newly qualified nurse that Rennie Grove has employed. I’m part of a scheme designed to help overcome the national shortage of nurses.

“I worked in an Intensive Care Unit after qualifying but it wasn’t for me. I chose palliative care because you can contribute to a better patient experience and at Rennie Grove you’re in the privileged position of being able to do so in a patient’s own home.

“In my first three months I went on patient visits with the experienced Rennie Grove nurses and now I am making my own visits to patients with less complex care needs. New and experienced nurses working together is the perfect combination.”

Clare’s patients include Ken who was has incurable pancreatic cancer.

His wife, Chris, recalls the fear she felt when he came home from hospital: “I was feeling anxious and alone and worried because he’d changed: sleeping more, eating less, losing weight.

“All Ken knew was that he didn’t want to be in hospital. But he was so poorly when he did get home that he couldn’t eat and he just stayed in bed. I was so panicky.

“Then the Rennie Grove nurses came. They were incredibly caring and they took control. The hospital had recommended steroids but we were scared by the side effects.

“Clare came to see us with Rebekha and Jennie and they reassured us, explaining that steroids could be used at a very low dose in palliative care to relieve pain and make a patient more comfortable.

“I’m so glad we listened to them! Ken is up on his feet again, eating, laughing and enjoying life.

“Having the time to talk things through with such a caring, knowledgeable team of nurses was priceless. Clare and her mentors give us the confidence and the means to lead a normal life again.”

It costs Rennie Grove £29,600 to recruit a nurse like Clare. Can you help by making a donation? Call 01442 890222 or donate online at www.renniegrove.org/clare.