Patients' tender care (From Penarth Times)

Patients' tender care

STAFF at Penarth's Marie Curie hospice will be doing all they can to bring some Christmas cheer to their patients over Christmas.

The hospice provides a wide range of services for cancer patients in south Wales who are generally referred by their GP.

The Rev Lance Clerk, a chaplain at the hospice, said: "We do all we can to meet the spiritual needs of the patients. Because of the sad circumstances we are working in we don't go overboard at Christmas.

"But we will be having carols and bedside communion for the patients who wish to. Our aim is to bring the gift of love and fellowship at Christmas. We work as a non-denominational front with Anglicans and Baptists but also work with Catholics and other non-Christian religious groups to meet everyone's needs."

Kath Cawley, of Byrd Crescent, a housekeeping supervisor at the hospice, said: "I will be in at 7am on Christmas Day. We do everything we can to create a nice atmosphere for the patients and their relatives. "

Sally Hooton, a nurse at the hospice, said: "Christmas can be a sad time bit it is our job to make it a special day by giving lots of tender loving care."

There are more than 30 in-patient beds at the hospice which also provides day-care and outpatient services.

The Marie Curie hospice, which was founded more than 40 years ago, specialises in providing holistic care for people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses.