"Recognition of outstanding contribution from staff during palliative care"

My most recent stay in Wonthaggi Hospital, my fourth in just over four months this year, came as a result of the need for palliative care pain management. 

The terminal oesophageal cancer diagnosis was only made two months ago and since that time I have had three weeks at Moorabbin Hospital, three stays in Wonthaggi, each almost a week, and ten days in palliative care at Armitage House. 

The confrontation of this diagnosis has been extremely hard to come to terms with and last week I realised just how the support and encouragement of the staff at Bass Coast Health, the hospital, Armitage House and the palliative care team is so important to this community but goes largely unnoticed and unheralded, except for this directly involved. 

While I was in the hospital last week, I received a thank you card, from an unknown reader of my community magazine, and reading it, looking around I saw immediately the need for more people to tell service providers, like Bass Coast Health, what we think they do right, not just what we see as not being done. 

This is my chance to say thank you for your outstanding contribution.