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Message from the Area Manager

Palliative Care, Janeane Harlum

To all our Palliative Care Volunteers,

It is with great appreciation that I thank all of the

Palliative Care Volunteers across the LHD for your

contributions of time, skills and support to palliative

care patients and their carers during 2016. Whether

you contribute through direct time with patients

and families in hospital, PCU or in community, assist

with activities including memorial services, celebra-

tory events, promotional activities such as Palliative

Care Week, Dying To Know day, assisting with be-

reavement cards and packs, jolly trolley, arts pro-

gramme, music programme or massage, your indi-

vidual contributions are

highly valued.

This year has seen the in-

troduction of volunteers

contributing to the music

programme on the Pallia-

tive Card ward at Liverpool

(4C). It is lovely to walk

through the ward and hear

the music as well as see

the joy it brings to those

listening. Recently some

staff and I had the pleasure

of hearing stories from volunteers who presented

at a staff education session. These stories demon-

strated the very real and individual experiences that

volunteers have with patients and their carers and

the difference you make in people’s lives.

At Camden PCU this year

some new initiatives have

included a volunteer con-

tributing to patient massage

and an Arts trolley. The no-

tice board outside the PCU

is a focal point with chang-

ing displays which are crea-

tive and colourful. Several

BBQs have been held by the

volunteers as well as a Bun-

nings BBQ .

Special mention must

go to Anna Musca-

tello who was re-

cently awarded her

20year volunteering

service award. Well

done Anna!

Those volunteers who

contribute to community patients across the LHD

and at Bankstown Hospital thank you for your pa-

tience in receiving referrals.

Well, what can we say about the inaugural

SWSLHD Volunteer Service Trivia night held a few

months ago. It was a fantastic night which raised

over $5000 to assist with volunteer activities to

support patient and family care. The night was lots

of fun and to all of the organising committee, a job

well done!

Another new initiative is the design and printing of

new volunteer service brochures. These look

amazing and will benefit the promotion of the ser-

vice to staff and volunteers, and a separate bro-

chure for patients and carers. These are currently

being distributed widely.

As well as all of the day to day activities, work is

currently being done on a review of all Volunteer

service policies to ensure that they are practical

and comply with MoH requirements. The orienta-

tion manual is also being reviewed.

This year has been extremely busy and on behalf

of all of the staff, we say thank you to the volun-

teers for a job well done and hope that you can

reflect on your contributions positively and we

look forward to working with you in 2017.

To all of the staff thank you for your support and

encouragement of the volunteers, referrals and

attendance at meetings.

Finally I would like to thank Arlene Roache ,

A yearly news sheet from the SWSLHD Volunteer Service

SWSLHD Pa l l i a t i v e

Car e Volunt e e r Se r v i c e

December 2016

“I realised as a doctor, there is not enough time to dedicate to patients,” “Now I can be a doctor and spend time with them.” Dr Nile Ulgen said she dedicates her time to play the piano outside her role as a doc-tor

The patient and his loved ones get right into the colouring mood at Easter time

A special Thank You to Peter Sherlock & Jo Gibbs from Bunnings Narellan who donate the Sausage Sizzle BBQs for the patients, carers, staff and vol-unteers at Camden Palliative Care Inpatient Unit, Camden Hospital

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SWSLHD Volunteer Coordinator for her efforts. This

year has seen many positive media stories in local

newspapers, an increase in community referrals and

strong links with donors for the future. The Volun-

teer Service is highly valued and respected across

the LHD and we look forward to working with you in

2017.

The year in review: Reflections

from the SWSLHD Palliative Care

Volunteer Coordinator, Arlene

Roache

As we approach the end of 2016, I would like to take

the opportunity to thank our volunteers for their

continued donation of time and talent throughout

the year. I am pleased to say that the service con-

tinues to receive many compliments from patients,

carers, staff and our networks across the district.

Thank you to all our staff in the hospital and com-

munity who provide support to our volunteers on a

daily basis.

Thank you to all our Executive teams across the Lo-

cal Health District for their continued support of the

service.

In April, together with The GroundSwell Project, a

death literacy workshop was held for volunteers to

improve capacity to conduct health promotion ac-

tivities about death, dying and be-

reavement and to enhance advocacy

skills through improving confidence,

knowledge and real life event experi-

ence. The ‘Dying to Talk’ teabag

holder was designed through this

collaboration and used during Na-

tional Palliative Care week and Dying

to Know Day activities.

In addition, some volunteers attended the assis-

tance with

feeding educa-

tion specifically

conducted for

palliative care

volunteers by

the site Nutri-

tion & Hydration team in Camden Hospital.

Our Volunteer Heidi Hodder won the writing compe-

tition held by NSW Palliative Care Volunteering. Her

story captured the sense of challenge, satisfaction

and humanness that is part of palliative care volun-

teering. Her winning entry will be published next

year in a book called “Changing Face of Volunteer-

ing in Hospice and Palliative Care: An International

Perspective.” (edited by Dr Ros Scott and Steven

Howlett.)

$16,000 raised by our volunteers was donated to

our high cost Equipment Loan Pool (ELP) to pur-

chase special beds for patients who wish to die at

home.

A further $1500 was donated to purchase special

beds for families who stay overnight in the Camden

Palliative Care Inpatient unit.

The proposal submitted to further expand the ser-

vice into Bowral Hospital has been approved. Our

volunteers and staff are very excited about this.

Finally, on behalf of our volunteers, I would like to

wish you all a merry Christmas and a safe, happy

and healthy new year.

Meghan Debono, NUM Camden PCU I have been the Nursing Unit Manager on the Cam-

den Palliative Care Unit for the last 2 years and I can

honestly say it has been the most re-

warding experience in my nursing

career. The individual care that the

Doctors and Nurses give is excep-

tional. It is such a privilege to care

for people at the end of their lives.

Each and every patient teaches me

something about life. Working with

the Nurses on this Unit is such a

blessing, each and every one of them

provide the patients with such caring and compas-

sionate nursing care that is second to none. I really

am proud to come to work every day and be in-

volved in the wonderful care that the Camden Pal-

liative Care Unit gives to each patient and their

families.

Testimonials from our volunteers, patients

and carers Leonard Dorrell (My mother always used my full

title) - Camden Palliative Care Inpatient Unit

You can count on my fin-

gers the amount of

times I have been hospi-

talised in my 83 years,

until this year when I

have had 4-5 admissions

and then to ultimately

come here is the great-

est revelation because

everyone is so beautiful,

understanding, caring

and gifted because they are a blessing. The volun-

teers are part of the package. The best health in the

world is developed because of people like the vol-

unteers.

Photograph taken in the gazebo located in the garden of the Cam-den Palliative Care Inpatient Unit, Camden Hospital. In the photo-graph from left: Carmen Pecorari (volunteer), Leonard and Jodi

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“I am Leonard’s daughter and I feel so blessed that

this facility is available for my father and so happy

within myself to see my father taken care of this

way.” Jodi

Joan Casey – Volunteer, Bankstown Community

Recently, three other Palliative Care Volunteers and

I were invited to share our experiences at the Liver-

pool and Macarthur Cancer

Services Education morning

at Liverpool Hospital. This

was a great success and the

positive feedback was en-

couraging. I talked about my

experience supporting a 39

year old Vietnamese lady

who was married with 2 primary school aged chil-

dren. At first, the language barrier was a small

problem, but over time, due to my English lessons,

this improved quite a lot. I visited this gracious lady

for 18 months. During this time her sister from Viet-

nam and another from America were able to visit. I

would take her shopping, to medical appointments

and occasionally during school holidays we would

take the children to McDonalds- this outing made

her feel normal. On days when she was feeling low

we would just sit and talk.

Unfortunately this lady is no longer with us, but I

will always remember her fondly for her courage

and spirit. She is one of the reasons that I continue

to volunteer in the community.

Junette Candusso— Volunteer, Bowral Community

My role as a volunteer

I visit Dorothy each week

Arriving early I take a peep

Sometimes resting, sometimes sleep-

ing

Snuggled in bed, it’s all in keeping

Chris is the man in Dorothy’s life

She married him to become his wife

Blessed with love and tender care

He takes “time out” when I am there I check the washing and the dishes

Do what I can to grant her wishes

Mary stirs, and begins to cough

Her pain is relentless, today is tough

I sit on her bed, tell her “I’m here”

If only I could take away her fear

Offer a cuppa or a little chat

We share a giggle, oh! Enough of that

Over the months our friendship has grown

Mary’s courage outweighs all I have known

Quietly spoken, soft and gentle

I am reminded of a soft rose petal

I love my role as a volunteer

Happy times, sad times, sometimes a tear

We’ve had a bond right from the start

We share our love, you’ve touched my heart. Chris Pope—Carer, Bowral community

In this very busy world, it is amazing to know that

there are people in our society who are willing to

help others in need without expectation of favour or

reward.

My wife Dorothy and I are very grateful to be visited

weekly by a volunteer. Her name is Junette.

Junette’s presence makes it possible for me to have

some quality time to myself in order to return home

feeling somewhat refreshed. As a full time carer, it

is most necessary to have regular breaks. Whilst in

our home, Junette, of her own initiative, will attend

to small tasks which need to be undertaken, tasks

such as folding up clothing or attending to those un-

ending dishes in the kitchen sink.

We both want our volunteer to know that her ef-

forts are most appreciated and we hope that

Junette experiences a tremendous feeling of satis-

faction by giving some of her valuable time to oth-

ers. Thank you, thank you Junette. We wish you all

the very best.

Help with celebrating a special 18

th Birthday—

Sandra Wales and Anna Muscatello, Volunteers

Camden Palliative Care Unit

Anna and I visited an elderly gentleman

patient. We chatted about his family, he spoke

about his granddaughter and was very excited to tell

us that she would be celebrating her 18th Birthday in

the week ahead. I asked if he would like us to make

a card for him to give to his granddaughter. His fa-

cial expression said it all. He was tired and weary

but what a beautiful smile

we received, as he ex-

pressed how wonderful

that would be to be able

to give her a special card

from himself. We had sev-

eral people interested in

helping us make the card

in the patient’s lounge

room which was also very

special because everyone

wanted to help make a wonderful card for this pa-

tient’s granddaughter.

Joan Casey with Ann

Junette Canduso

Sandra Wales & Anna Muscatello

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Mimmi Djordevic, Volunteer, with Carol Bull

RSL and Sporting Club, Shameran Isaac, Marvel Re-

alty, Yavuz Sabuncuoglu, the Working Party, Grace

Bart, Laura, Margaret Fecht, Susie Thomas, Patricia

Rebello, Therese Smeal, Christine Prestwidge, Jane-

ane Harlum and our volunteers.

Kent Lipman, patient, Liverpool Palliative Care

Ward featured in the photograph with staff Bron-

wen Hewitt and

Lucy Elva said “I

enjoy the music

intensely, it is

really relaxing.”

Sandra Skarsky—Palliative Care Volunteer, Liver-

pool Hospital

During my three years as a palliative

care volunteer, I have met many won-

derful people, patients, families and

staff. From the very beginning of my

training I felt it was right for me. Each

day is different of course. Recently I

read a chapter of a book to a patient

and afterwards she said she had no idea how sooth-

ing and relaxing it was to have someone read to

you. Simple things can make such a difference.

Sometimes just a hug – no words required, or just

sit with someone and just be there without talking

or doing. However there are other times when

even the sweetest smile doesn’t work. I might get

waved away or told to “get out and leave me

alone”. The varied situations we come across are all

part of life and death.

I have had the privilege of being with a man as he

died. It was a very moving and peaceful moment.

I love being part of palliative care, part of something

wonderful.

The service farewelled….

Leanne Blaker and Heather Parkes. We

wish them all the very best in their fu-

ture endeavours.

When we entered his room he was sleeping so we

just left a short note and the card on his bedside

table and the staff said they would make sure he

knew it was there. Returning the following week

we revisited this this gentleman. He greeted us

with his beautiful smile and told us how happy he

was when he saw the card and his granddaughter’s

excitement when she received and read her “Very

Special Card” for her milestone birthday from her

very ill grandfather.

Not long after the

granddaughter’s birth-

day, we were pleas-

antly surprised to re-

ceive a letter from the

patient’s granddaugh-

ter thanking us for

what we had done for

her grandfather and

how she would keep

her card forever.

Carol Bull (Ward CB4C Liverpool

Hospital)

The piano playing “just beauti-

ful, it lifts up your spirit, just

what we need here. My mum

just loves hearing it from her

bed. Thank you so much. “

“What a great evening to be part of the South West-

ern Sydney Palliative Care Unit volunteer group

fundraiser. Thank you Arlene Roache for organising

this event. It was lots of fun! Thank you family and

friends for attending and allowing me to share our

experience, that

we, as a family,

had with pallia-

tive care volun-

teers during my

older brother’s

illness. It was an

experience like

no other to be

there assisting us

all. I acknowl-

edge the work you do and will always be part of this

fantastic service you keep providing” Yavuz Sabun-

cuoglu

We say a very special thank you to our Trivia Mas-

ter, par excellence - David Bart, Canley Heights RSL

Students Amani Kaadan, piano, Alyssa Philippe, guitar, Melita Elora, voice, Cathryne Boviatsis, voice and Justine Sholm – Head Teacher

Creative & Performing Arts gave their time to sing & play in CB4C, Liverpool Hospital.

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The year in pictures

Tran Nguyet Hong asked the

students to sing a Christmas

carol for her mum

Amani playing the piano

The team play an important role in supporting the volunteers.

From left to right: Front row: Jodie Peronchik, Kerry Womsley.

Arlene Roache, Kathy Schofield, Therese Smeal. Back row: Ann

Perey, Donna Berry, Colleen Carter, Mira Glavan

The Monthly BBQs hosted by the volunteers put a smile on

everyone’s face From left to right: Yvonne Kerr,

Pamela Bocking, Judy Smith,

Sandra Wales, Kerry Wheatley –

complete 5 years as a Palliative

Care Volunteer together with Joan Casey, Karisha Khalil and Bibi Farida. They received their 5 year lapel pin

Volunteers assist with handing out the roses to families who

attend the memorial service on arrival, Liverpool Hospital General Manager, Robynne Cooke and Director

Human Resources Richard Perin, Liverpool

Hospital celebrate the joyous season with our

volunteers during the Christmas Morning Tea

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Amani Kaadam

A&L Florist

Alan White

Alyssa Philippe

Anita Hong

Anna Boukouvalas

Anna Muscatello

Australian Institute of Music

Bibi Farida

Bronwen Hewitt

Bunnings Mittagong

Bunnings Narellan

Carers NSW

Campbelltown Line Dancers

Carniceria Butchers

Cathryne Boviatsis

Cherin Jacobsen

Colleen Perkins

Dan Murphys (Warwick Farm)

Deborah Young

Delma Perrin

Donna Berry and Family

Doris Cassar

Dr Ali Al Abdullah

Dr Desi Seccombe

Dr Dion Forstner

Dr Eve Tang

Dr Fiona Stafford-Bell

Dr Jackie Kerfoot

Dr Jennifer Wiltshire

La Royal Patisserie

Lana Lahifi

Maree Cain

Marj Salter

Macarthur Ulysees Bike Club

Maxxia

Meguiar’s

Meghan Debono

Melita Elora

Mick Watkins

Mila Rivero

Mrs Risbey

Nancy Monis

Neda Lozina

Nicole Girotto

Parkview Expresso Bar

Patrick, Mary Mahoney/ Dulcie Soans

Patricia Rebello

Roman and Sandra Skarsky

Sharon Kershaw

Subway, Liverpool Hospital

Susie Thoman

Teresa Benetos

Therese Smeal

Thornton Brother Roses

Tony Jabbour

UNSW Clinical School

Villiesa Camallig

Vinita Singh

Wally & Christine Harvey

Yvonne Kerr

Dr Louise Elliott

Dr Meera Agar

Dr Rajesh Aggarwal

Dr Rebecca Strutt

Dr Riona Pais

Dr Thang Du Huynh

Dr Weng Ng

Dympna KcKenny

Escape Travel, Chatswood

GroundsWell Project

Harry & Frances Warner

Hamze Butchers

Helia Palma-Olivares

Irene Norris

James Nguyen

James Nguyen & Australian

Geographic

Jane Reeve

Jean-Jacques Dath

Jenny M Watt

Joan Casey

Jodie Peronchik

Joe Sequeira

Joes Fruit World

Josephine Mira

Josie Zanella

Josophan’s Chocolates

Judy Smith

Justine Shlom

Karisha Khalil

Kerrianne Hancock

Thank you to our donors

Statistics—Volunteer Time. Steady growth and consistency in the donation of time from our volunteers

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Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over……..Another year over…….. Wishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New YearWishing everyone a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New Year

Planning for 2017

• Recruitment drive for palliative care volunteers in the hospitals, community and

the extended music and arts programme.

• Review of all policies, guidelines & processes.

• Continued engagement with key stakeholders to develop the mandatory training

program relevant to volunteers in Liverpool and Bankstown Hospitals.

• Education Day to develop knowledge and confidence around having conversations with people from

other cultural/religious backgrounds.