Professor Ann Barrett’s Story

Professor Ann Barrett has had many years of experience of caring for people with cancer and referring them for end of life care.

Hospice’s have always been a part of her professional and personal life. She was involved in setting up Maggie’s Centre [support for people with cancer] in Glasgow.

When she was a patient in the Inpatient Unit at the Hospice, in 2025, she met our CEO, Sharon Allen OBE, and kindly shared her experience of her care:

“When I was first diagnosed I visited the Living Well Service once a week for eight sessions.

I came to the Inpatient Unit here on 25 March 2025 after being ill for six months. I’d had somebody helping me at home but I was very sick. I felt nauseated all the time, which was not well controlled. It was making me feel miserable.

My GP rang somebody at the Hospice and I was so relieved [that there was a place available for me]. When I arrived I was put on a drip and quite quickly my nausea became under control, which was a great relief.

The thing that’s really impressed me is how nice, kind and thoughtful the nurses are. They never go out of the room without saying “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Sometimes you do have things that you haven’t liked to ask about and it’s so good [to be asked] as it never seems to be too much trouble for them. I think that it shows me that they’re working under good conditions because they’re happy. They’re always the same. They’ve always got time for us [patients] and that’s unusual in the NHS. Here they’re really consistently so helpful and nice and that’s true of everybody.

I’ve got a disease that’s growing [relatively] slowly and so I may be in here longer than some people, but I don’t think anybody should be anything other than really grateful to be here because it takes away all the stress and strain from your family, at a time when they’re worried about you.

This is how it should be for everybody but of course it can’t be because it’s expensive and we’re not running that sort of health service [fully funded by the NHS] at the moment.

It’s wonderful knowing that you can get help whenever you need it here at the Hospice and having a bell that you can press and they [the clinical staff] come straight away. That’s been my experience and that’s reassuring.

The other thing that impresses me is how people will do other people’s jobs. There are no barriers – if something needs to be done, they do it. That’s really nice too because [I know] it’s not the same in every setting.

I’ve got a lovely room [here in the Inpatient Unit]. It’s very comfortable and light with a beautiful garden outside.

I’m a keen gardener so I’ve taken great pleasure in what the gardeners here have been doing. It’s lovely to have a room where you look to the outside and it’s beautiful.

Volunteers bring in the meals and I’ve seen others volunteering in the garden. They’re obviously very happy and I think, ‘Why didn’t I volunteer here before?’ It would’ve been a very nice job.

The garden is lovely. I love – now that I can walk a bit, going to the round lawn – so amazing. The planting here is fantastic. There are lots of different grasses and it’s very well done. I think that’s true of everything here. It’s done well and I really appreciate it.

I’ve been on a walk with a Physiotherapist and that was very helpful when I didn’t have visitors. I’ve seen the Occupational Therapist who adjusted my walking frame for me too.

I also had a hand massage with a Complementary Therapist and I’ve seen the Chaplain here three times.

Because I’m quite local, I’ve had lots of visitors and they can also see how nice it is. Yesterday I went to the Bistro with my visitor to have a cup of tea together [in a different setting] and that was excellent. I had been to the Bistro before, with a friend and I know people like going there. When we were there it was really busy but that’s because it feels like a nice place and the food is good.

Hospice’s are a fantastic resource for Dr’s to refer patients to and they are really needed. We could’ve done with lots more provision [when I was working] but what we got was fantastic.

I’ve been very well looked after and I would love to see Hospice’s being able to provide more help to patients with cancer [and other life limiting illnesses] who really need it.”

---

Our ‘Outstanding’ services are provided free of charge to patients and their families. Our aim being to provide the highest quality care, helping people to make every moment count. You can find out more about how we are funded here: arhc.org.uk/how-we-are-funded. 

To Protect our Care please visit arhc.org.uk/protectourcare