“Every person is a story, and the ending really matters”: How Weldmar at Home has made such a difference in it’s first two years
25th July 2023
< BACK TO NEWSPictured above: Ali Caldwell, Weldmar at Home Team Lead, and Deputy Team Lead, Vicky Taylor
In July 2021 Weldmar Hospicecare launched their hospice at home, and almost five hundred people have been able to die with dignity at home in those first two years with support from the service.
The Weldmar at Home team have also been able to support countless family members and loved ones as they go through what is such a difficult time, and will be on hand to provide care in the home in the final weeks and days of a patient’s life.
Ali Caldwell has been Team Lead since rejoining Weldmar Hospicecare in November last year, some fifteen years after she ended a seven year spell as a Staff Nurse at the Inpatient Unit in Dorchester. She says it’s become an essential part of what Weldmar provides to local people with a life limiting illness. “The growth of the service has been very evident, in the number of patients who can receive care, delivered by our team of Health Care Assistants across Dorset. The service is offered to those from Lyme Regis all the way down to Swanage and the Purbecks, and up to North Dorset.”
“We had a busy start to this year recruiting new team members, and now up to a team of 24. The great thing about that is that we can accept and deliver more care to patients who choose that that want to die at home. 490 patients have received that care in the first two years, and not just the hands on care from our team, but the emotional and practical support for both the patient and the people who are important to them. Making sure loved ones have that support is essential, whether that’s advice, a listening ear, or giving them a break to walk the dog or sit in the garden, and prioritise themselves.”
The Weldmar at Home office is adorned with a plethora of cards from relatives who have wanted to show their gratitude towards Weldmar at Home. Common comments include how the service enabled that loved one to be a husband, a wife, a son or daughter, and not the carer.
In order to be able to fulfil the wishes of patients, they will usually have discussed their future wishes with their Weldmar Community Nurse – what is known as Advance Care Planning. and an increasing number of people are choosing the familiar surroundings of their own home as the place they want to be when they die. “Often those early conversations will happen with ourselves,” says Ali, “so we know that where possible we will pull out all the stops to ensure the care is in place.”
Ali says that the Weldmar at Home team is second to none. “It’s a brilliant team, and they come from lots of different backgrounds with lots of skills, lots of experiences, as well as empathy and genuine warmth. They have enthusiasm, pride in being part of the team, and love what they do. I often think that because we don’t see them all the time as they’re in people’s homes, they can be quite modest about the difference that they make, but we know the difference they make from the feedback and the thanks and gratitude that comes from colleagues as well as the families. They often need to be quite reactive if a patient’s needs have changed, staying with them for support if needed, and keeping the patient and their family at the centre of the care, which is what it’s all about.”

Ali says she has a very personal reason for wanting to make the Weldmar at Home team as good as it possibly can be. “My mum was receiving specialist support from Weldmar Hospicecare, and she was in and out of the Inpatient Unit for the last month of her life. On the last occasion, the campaign to launch Weldmar at Home had just begun, and we were very aware of it. Spending the last few weeks of her life at home is something she would have loved the opportunity to do.
“Here I am now, ensuring that as many people as possible, like my mum, can indeed have that wish, under the specialist care of Weldmar. I feel very passionately that as many families as possible should benefit. I know that my mum would be really proud of what Weldmar at Home has achieved, and when you hear that nearly 500 patients have benefitted from that care, it’s amazing to think how many more will benefit over the coming years.”
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