Son’s heartfelt letter to aged care home staff

Read a son’s heartfelt letter of thanks to the aged care home staff who cared for his dad with dedication, kindness and empathy, making his dad’s final weeks and days the best they could be.

As you know, my dad, Bruce had been a respite care resident in your Maclean facility since late November 2017. He passed away peacefully in the early hours of Thursday, 22nd February, 2018 from liver failure.

Whilst I have written to you before about your wonderful staff, I feel that I must again let you know just how well Bruce was looked after during his entire stay there, as what I experienced and witnessed was simply unbelievable.

From the facility manager Cathy, to the Registered Nurses and all the other support staff, nothing was ever any trouble. They were always at hand to help and the level and regularity of care was something that I had never seen, nor imagined, could exist. They made Bruce’s final 10 weeks very comfortable.

I feel that I need to name all of those who gave the most wonderful care to dad (and I apologise profusely if I miss anyone). Whilst I spent time with dad over the past 10 weeks and was with him for the last 7 days, I reflected on all of your team that made a profound difference to dad and our family. I know his brother Warren, sister-in-law Jennifer and nephew, Greg, who were also with dad in the final week, feel exactly the same way that I do.

I’d like to recognise your Manager Cathy and her front office staff (including dad’s long-time friend Jackie) for their dedication to make our whole experience as easy and as pleasant as it could be. The nursing and support staff of Joble, Fran, Ruth, Margaret, Lahela, Chris T, Ruth, Robyn, Kerrie, Chris P, Chantelle, Courteney, Peter, Andrew, David, Steve, Nathan and Todd kept us informed and showed the ultimate amount of compassion and professionalism. They were also good to have a laugh with when we needed one! The kitchen staff were also on hand during the last week to ensure we had access to tea and coffee, and if we needed, breakfast, lunch and dinner – something that was not definitely not expected, but in the circumstances made the situation a whole lot easier to manage for the family.

I also witnessed at close hand just how your wonderful team interact with each other. When walking past a shift handover or a wider team meeting chaired by Cathy in a quiet corner of the facility, the calmness and respect everyone has for one another was very evident. The way they supported each other in their day-to-day work told our family that we were very lucky to have found dad a place in Whiddon.

I spoke with Cathy on my way out in the early hours after dad has passed and I tried to explain just how we felt about her and her staff. I said that whilst we were in there with dad, we knew that they were giving all residents the same outstanding level of care and compassion, however to my family and I, and to dad, it felt like we were the only ones that they were looking after.

I can honestly say that my family and I consider your team at Maclean to be part of our family. You have something very, very special going on in your facility in Maclean and I know that Cathy and the team work extremely hard to provide not only a wonderful service, but a great place for your staff to work.

As a thank you, I will be donating one of dad’s paintings from his house for Cathy to hang somewhere in the home.

Again, thank you for being there for our family in such difficult circumstances.

Kind Regards,

Bradley