Aunty “Grobbie” known to everyone in the hospice family as well as the community has been in the nursing profession for the past 54 years! She is currently the longest standing staff member at Brits Hospice and has been part of the hospice family for the past 15 years. Starting as a volunteer in 2001, Grobbie found herself helping out the community based carers doing patient visits and assessments.

When asked how she ended up at Brits Hospice, she responded: “they found me. I received a call one day to ask if I was willing to help out as they were short staffed. I agreed because I always had a passion for people, especially those who are living with a life-threatening illness. Today I am still here and have never looked back. “She added

Part of the job that I enjoy the most is the fact that every day is different. I have the opportunity to meet new people and help them understand their illness and what to expect. I feel that people are not educated enough about their illness and try my best to not only explain to the patient but prepare their families as well. The more knowledge people have about hospice and palliative care, the better we can break the stigma attached to this.

I remember receiving a call one day from a young lady. Her mom was ill and she asked me to come around to check what was wrong. On my arrival, the young lady escorted me to the room her mother was lying and when the mom saw me, she seemed furious. I continued to asses her and left. When it came to my second visit, I received a smile from the same lady. Confused at the time, I asked if everything was ok. She then responded to say that she heard hospice is a place where people die and they take patients away from their homes. Hospice intervention has changed her perception and she now regards me as the “Angel of Hope”.

This is often the perception of hospice. Most people believe that when you are faced with an illness and hospice intervention takes place, they take you away not realising that most of the time palliative care takes place in your home.

Grobbie is very passionate about what she does and expresses that she cannot do what she does without her amazing team. “We all strive to give our best and nothing less.”