Havens Hospices

I hope this Prayer Diary finds you and yours safe and well.
I think that one of the hardest things, as well as witnessing the effect on people’s health, that the Covid-19 pandemic is having is the isolation felt in society. I was listening to the radio on Sunday morning and Patricia Greene, the actress that plays Jill Archer in the Archers, was on. She said that her son had said to her that living through the lockdown would be no different for her as she hardly goes out. Her response to this was, ‘Well, not really!’ Even when we are limited in our ability to socialize or to go out when we wish, it doesn’t mean that the impact of Covid-19 on our society passes us by. Now that things are beginning to ease a little the impact on those more vulnerable and with health issues continues because they are being advised by the NHS to self-isolate for a further three months.

Who could have thought it? Just a few short weeks ago we were just beginning to face the impact of this global health crisis. The accompanying challenges in our society make this a time when those of us that pray have much to exercise our attention. As you may know from the mailings and publicity that Haven’s Hospices are sending out, our new Fair Haven’s Hospice and our Little Haven’s in-patient units are being an invaluable resource in supporting the NHS in caring for patients approaching discharge from NHS care as well, as for our own palliative patients. A part of our wellbeing team are beginning to offer a telephone support service to the broader community affected by Covid-19 as well as our own existing patients. Our Hospice at Home nurses and HCA’s and our J’s teams continue to support our patients in the community as do our Little Haven’s staff and our Day Hospice staff by telephone. Social distancing and lockdown measures are hard for us to work under but we continue to do our very best to make sure our patients and their family members are excellently cared for.