26. Heather Evans

In 2002, Heather Evans took a temporary job as a community palliative care nurse on a six month contract, little did she know she would go on to lead the Weldmar Community Nursing team for a number of years until retiring in 2022.

Heather’s connection with the charity actually goes back to 1998, when she joined what was Trimar Christian Hospice. “I thought it was the best job I’d ever had,” says Heather. “It was a day hospice, and we used to take people on outings, we had a beach hut, crafts, a bridge club, complementary therapies, and so much more.”

Heather left Trimar almost four years later to take on that six month contract at Cancer Care Dorset, which later merged with Trimar and Joseph Weld Hospice to become Weldmar Hospicecare. She served Weymouth and Portland, visiting patients in all environments – in their own home, in care homes, caravans, boats and prisons, hotels and hostels. She braved all weathers and conditions, from busy summers trying to negotiate a sea front full of tourists, through to trudging on foot through the snow to keep planned appointments.

Heather says, “The thing I was aware of right at the beginning that never changed, was that even though I was visiting patients in my role as a healthcare professional, it was a privilege to be invited into someone’s home at such a significant time in their lives, and I don’t think I ever took this for granted. You never know what situation you might find when you go into someone’s home, and you have to be able to adapt to make everything you do as person centred as it can be. It’s also incredibly rewarding when, at the end of a visit, someone says how much better they feel for knowing they are not alone on their journey.”

“During my years with Weldmar there were many organisational changes, but the basic ethos that brought me into palliative care never changed. To play a small part in enabling patients to die with dignity, in a place of their choosing, whilst helping them to live as well as they can for as long as they can, is what makes the role of the palliative care nurse so worthwhile and fulfilling.”