Lizzie Murray became the hospice’s care coordinator in August 2022, working closely with eight GP surgeries across the High Peak: Arden House and Sett Valley Medical Centre in New Mills; Buxton Medical Practice, Elmwood Medical Centre and Stewart Medical Centre in Buxton; Thornbrook Surgery in Chapel-en-le-Frith; Goyt Valley Medical Practice in Whaley Bridge; and Hartington Surgery.
Lizzie plays a very important role in providing a link between the hospice and surgeries to coordinate care for local patients who may need hospice care and support as close to, or in, the comfort of their own home.
Lizzie, who lives in Chapel-en-le-Frith, explains: ‘I am usually out and about, and have a base at each of the eight local surgeries. It’s important that I am out in the community so that staff and clinicians know who I am, and that they can come to me if they have any queries, ensuring a great working relationship and more joined-up care between the hospice and the practices.
‘We work within the Gold Standard Framework (or GSF as it’s known for short), which helps teams in all settings to provide more proactive, better supportive care, enabling patients to live as well as possible until they die. Patients who are approaching the last 12 months of life can be monitored more frequently and supported more appropriately as their conditions progress. Care may include managing pain and other symptoms for someone with a terminal diagnosis, (palliative care), supporting them to access benefits that they are entitled to, and understanding their wishes in the last days and hours of life, in relation to the treatment they want or don’t want.
‘Since starting my role, I have been shadowing a lot of our local community teams, and partner colleagues including palliative dementia nurses and dementia support workers, palliative care car rapid response nurses, Ashgate Hospice (ward and day centre), Dr Sarah Parnacott [consultant in palliative medicine] in one of her clinics at Blythe House Hospicecare and Helen’s Trust, social prescribers and district nursing teams. I have also shadowed staff at the hospice, and attended the groups which are held here. All of this will help me to understand what support there is for patients and families, and will help them access the right care and support that they are entitled to.
‘Everyone I have worked with so far is so passionate and dedicated to their jobs and they really care about the patients and the outcome; it was so lovely to see this in every area when I was having my training. This area of work isn’t for everyone; there can be some very sad and upsetting stories, but there are also some lovely, uplifting stories that make you realise how important your job is and that what you do is so valuable for patients and their families, particularly in the last weeks and days. I think that’s the nicest part; when you hear a good news story, or get a compliment, and you realise the work that you have contributed to has led to this. There is real job satisfaction and I’m looking forward to seeing where this job leads to and the help that can be given to patients, surgeries and professionals.
‘Prior to my role here at the hospice, I have worked within the NHS sector from the age of 18. I have worked in a hospital as a healthcare assistant and before that as a healthcare assistant in the community for a private company, providing care such as making meals, washing, dressing, and palliative care for patients who had been discharged from hospital, to die in the comfort of their own homes. I then went on to work in the radiology department as a booking clerk; booking X-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, MRIs, fluoroscopy clinics, biopsy clinics. I then got a job as a medical secretary at a GP surgery and became a joint lead of a team of seven staff, which then led me to this job now.
‘I always loved working with palliative patients, but I decided I didn’t want to do my nurse training so went down the admin route instead. But I always missed working with patients and helping them, so when I saw the job role advertised, I just had to apply.’
Find out more about hospice care and services here at Blythe House and Helen’s Trust.
