Award-winning Ward Clerk Val Keating says a lot of the patients are there for a long time and donations like special awnings, from the hospital volunteers, make a huge difference.

“Their families are often here 24 hours a day, so any little help, like the awnings so they can use the balconies, and CDs, DVDs and special quilts made for their beds are fabulous,” she said.

The unit doesn’t look like a hospital, with its family rooms and garden.

“When patients are feeling better, the family can take them out under the trees.  We couldn’t do what we do without the support of the community,” said Val.

Yvonne Carmichael, Nurse Manager, said Wauchope hospital offers excellence.

“Death and dying are things people don’t want to talk about, or think about, because they’re very emotive topics.

“The community certainly seems to appreciate not only the quality of care, but the quality of caring they get from our palliative care unit,” she said.

Not all patients are at the end stage of their life.  About 50 per cent who come in get treatment for stabilisation of their pain medication.

It might also be to allow their family a little recuperation and rest.

And the unit has really integral ties to the community nurses so it’s a cycle of coming in to the hospital, going home and coming in again when they need to.

Yvonne said they had a workshop recently with 15 staff members and each one told a story about the hospital.

“It was overwhelmingly positive. The overall response was about the friendliness, the helpfulness of the staff, the support everyone had had since they’ve come here,” she said.