Looking to the future

Willow Wood has been an integral part of the community of Tameside and Glossop since the Hospice opened its doors to the very first patient back on 5 May 1999.

Since then the Hospice has been at the forefront of palliative care and continues to develop and expand its services to meet the needs of the growing and changing population. Earlier this year, Willow Wood appointed Nicola Cheetham in the role of Clinical Director. Nicola has wide experience in the nursing field, including working in the community as a District Nurse, at the Christie as a Chemotherapy Nurse, as an educator, an associate palliative care specialist nurse and a palliative care clinical nurse specialist.

In 2018 Nicola made the transition to Hospice care with Bury Hospice, where she worked as hospice Care Team Manager before being promoted to Director of Clinical Services. These experiences mean that Nicola knows first-hand both the joys and the pressures of working in palliative care, and says “One of my very first patients as a newly qualified staff nurse, was a gentleman with a brain tumour and when he died in my care I knew palliative care was the field for me; getting to know him over that time, getting to know his family, his wishes for the time he had left and helping his family discuss and make decisions about his care, was a real privilege. Sharing his thoughts and feelings, supporting his family and seeing how much my care meant to them was so important.

There’s only one chance to get it right, and that has become my mission.”

Of course, Willow Wood doesn’t only care for patients at the end of their life. The Hospice can help those with a life-limiting condition, from diagnosis through to bereavement and remembrance, and has a range of initiatives and treatments available.

“We assess every patient individually, tailoring their support to focus on their personal goals and we support around 2,000 patients and their loved ones every year. Our approach has been very successful, and our services include an award winning dementia care service, our Day Services START Clinic, complementary therapies, physiotherapy, bereavement support and rehabilitation services. We are now able to deliver therapy support to patients in their own homes and hope to continue to expand and develop our services to enable us to reach more people out in our community.

“We are looking for more nurses to join our team so if you’re passionate about palliative care, and are looking to take that next step in your career, we’d love to hear from you! We offer NHS salaries for our nursing staff and continuance of NHS pension. If you want to find out more, please contact me on 0161 330 1100. We’re so proud of our wonderful facilities and I’d be more than happy to show you round.”