A day in the life of…Isabel

Isabel has been a nurse for over fourteen years and cares for patients living in Lewisham

“One of the best things about supporting people in their own homes is that you get to find out much more about them than you would normally. If their religion or culture is really important to them or if they are from abroad you can see this from the objects around them. This helps us to start conversations, which is good because our main focus is on the person, not the disease.

St Christopher’s is now the largest provider of end of life care in Lewisham and I can go out on two, three or sometimes four home visits a day. We see a wide range of patients all the way from young adults in their 20s to people in their 100s. I think my oldest patient was 108.

Our main focus is on the person, not the disease

Most people feel like it’s a sad time when they are approaching death, but there are also those patients who accept what is happening to them and live like they have never lived before.

They focus on making the most of the time they spend with their family which is more important than ever. Often both the patient and their family have never lived with that intensity before. Normally we are so busy with our lives that we don’t realise how important it is to be with family.”