Natalie Mear, our Eastern Locality Community Team Leader, began working at Hospiscare in January 1994.
Natalie explains, “I trained at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and always enjoyed caring for end-of-life patients on the wards. I was working as a staff nurse at Axminster hospital when I heard that Hospiscare was starting a new nursing service in the area. I quickly applied as I knew this was the type of nursing that I wanted to do. I’d only been qualified a few years so I didn’t think I would get it, but luck was on my side! I’ve loved it ever since.
“I set up the Axminster service from scratch, working alongside the nurses in Honiton and Ottery St Mary to form the East Devon service, which is now called ‘Eastern’. I shared an office with the district nurses and health visitors in a building next door to the Axminster GP surgery which started the beginning of a good working relationship with the primary care services which continues to this day. My time was spent out and about in the community, doing lots of networking and getting to know the area as my caseload of patients grew.
“I continued to work as a community Hospiscare nurse, which evolved into a clinical nurse specialist, for several years, taking time away to have my children. In 2019, I became the team leader for the East Devon Team and this year, I became the team leader for the new Eastern locality team which stretches from Axminster to Exmouth.
“In my current role, I lead and support the Eastern community team which include clinical nurse specialists, advanced nurse practitioners, admiral nurse and clinical administrators. I can offer advice and support to the teams with all the knowledge, skills and experience that I developed over the years with Hospiscare. I hope that I lead by example and my personal motto has always been ‘treat others how you want to be treated’ and this is especially true for our patients. Kindness and compassion are paramount in my thoughts.
“I’ve seen so many changes in my time with Hospiscare. I remember the day hospice running in Seaton and Jo Pavey opening Kings House in Honiton to the introduction of care navigators offering invaluable patient support. How we care for patients has had to adapt over the years too. When I first started, the patient’s journey through dying was very different and often over a longer period of time. Now especially after COVID, many patients have much more complex needs so our support can often be very intense but only needed for a much shorter period.
“There are so many patients that have stayed with me over the years. I remember the husband of a patient who died in our care, he attended every one of our Light up a Life services in Axminster and would always come over to say hello and thank you. It’s something that is so unique about this job, although the people we care for are no longer with us, the impact we have on the families is lasting.
“Hospiscare is unlike anywhere else. No matter where you go in the organisation, the focus is on the patients. There aren’t many nursing jobs that allow you to do that.
“I’ve always enjoyed being a nurse. I never thought once about working somewhere else – I’ve never felt the need to. I am privileged to be part of what Hospiscare does.
“I’ve been there through all the ups and downs and major changes, but the core of what Hospiscare does has remained the same. We focus on patients at the end of life and give the best possible care we can and that’s never changed.”
