Gabriella’s Story

Meet Gabriella: Senior Healthcare Assistant

Gabriella is a Senior Healthcare Assistant in our Rapid Personalised Care Service (RPCS) team, joining Rennie Grove Peace in February this year. The RPCS provides care in the home for up to 12 weeks for people approaching end-of-life living in Herts or Bucks. We spoke to her about her role and the impact it makes. 

“I live locally, and for years and years I’d drive past the Peace Hospice building in Watford and I’d always say, in my head, ‘I am going to work there’. When I left my last role, because I wasn’t enjoying the working from home aspect and missed that interaction, I saw this role and decided to apply, as something had always drawn me in.  

“The Rapid Personalised Care Service is a 12-week service, funded by the NHS CHC, where patients can have up to 4 visits a day in four timeslots: morning, lunchtime, teatime and bedtime. We provide personal care – washing, dressing, toileting – for people in their own home at the last 12 weeks of life. The patient must have their initial assessment within 72 hours of the package of care starting – so it is a very responsive service. We’re a team of around 10 carers and we make on average 80 visits on average each day, 365 days a year.

“As a senior healthcare assistant, I’m also able to carry out the initial assessments, making sure that the package of care is right for them and is started at the right time.

“I love making a difference in someone’s life, at the end of the life. I also love the team aspect – doing the things we do isn’t easy so having a strong team is really important. It feels like you really connect with each other. I also love being in the community – I’ve always worked in retirement villages and care homes and hadn’t previously been out in the community before and I really enjoy it.”

Watch Gabriella play the piano for a patient and her family:

The story

“After a while of knowing this patient I never noticed they had a piano in the corner of the room, as it was always covered with bits and pieces. I mentioned I could play and the patient and her family were really keen for me to play a few songs at the bedtime visit that day. After thinking they had forgotten, when bedtime came around they were still very keen for me to play. I played for the patient, her husband and young daughter. After building a really close relationship with this family since starting my job, it felt so intimate and special to be able to do this for them. I had the patient in tears and so grateful for taking the time to play. But I truly think it meant more to me than the other way round, to be able to give someone that moment and uplift them just brought me back down to earth and made everything I do worth every second.”