When my father was in his final days, he and mother went to the Severn Hospice – Shrewsbury in England. The level of care and compassion that they both had was amazing; nothing seemed to be too much trouble for the staff. Initially father was in a single room and the staff would wheel in a second bed at night for mother. After a week a much larger room (4 beds) opened up and it was theirs exclusively.

The hospice made for a wonderful place for my father to end his days, and for friends and family to visit him. The hospice was surrounded by a lovely garden that was maintained by another organization that father had belonged to for years; the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, and being able to see the garden and the wildlife gave him a lot of pleasure.

The family home was less than a mile from the hospice, and my sister and I along with our partners were ablle to visit at any time of day or night.

Here's hoping that we see facilities like this become the norm in Canada.

By: Peter