‘It’s a privilege sometimes to sit with somebody and hold their hand as they take their last breath’

At the young age of seven, prior to the opening of St Ann’s Hospice in 1971, Suzanne Willans can remember clearly her efforts in helping to fundraise for the Heald Green hospice.

Over 50 years later, Suzanne finds herself in the hospice’s Being You Centre, where her journey began as a hairdresser, receiving an award for three decades of service from St Ann’s Chief Executive, Rachel McMillan.

“As a young girl, I collected money, sold programmes for fetes and stuff like that, all in aid of the hospice, look at how far we’ve come.”

For Suzanne, her thirty years at St Ann’s Hospice haven’t felt like a long time. “I suppose it’s the same as having your children. You turn around and suddenly they’re in their thirties,” she laughed.

The proud Heald Green woman was recruited initially as a hairdresser before she became a healthcare assistant.

“When I came here, you didn’t have to have an interview. I was approached by a lady I went to a mother and toddler group with, and she knew I was a hairdresser. She asked if I wanted to come and be a hairdresser at the hospice,” Suzanne said.

“I remember thinking ‘Oh, that is all death, dying and misery. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I started on 18 hours a week as the hospice hairdresser. It was manageable with the kids.

Suzanne did hairdressing for inpatients, outpatients and sometimes staff of the hospice in what is now the Being You Centre in the Heald Green building, the very same room where she was honoured for her 30 years of service.

There were things Suzanne did that weren’t in the typical job description as a hairdresser. One of the first jobs she had was to cut the hair around a tumour of one of the inpatients as the area was getting infected.

Suzanne went on to work six years as a hairdresser before she asked about taking on some hours in a healthcare role.

“I had to do my NVQ Level Three in Palliative Care. It was two years of hard work. Eventually, I gave up the hairdressing and took on 30 hours on the wards as that’s what I wanted to do. My children had grown up and were a bit older so it allowed me to do it.

“The rest is history, I’ve been on the ward ever since.

“I love my job, I do 23 hours now, which is three days over two. I have a rest day in between because I am getting older,” she laughed.

There are a lot of emotions surrounding Heald Green at the moment as the new hospice building is currently under construction. Staff who have been working at St Ann’s for a long time, like Suzanne, will be bidding farewell to the current Heald Green hospice building which has been in operation since 1971.

“The transition of going from this hospice to the next hospice, is something I really, really want to do. ,” Suzanne said.

“Things, such as regulations have had to change over the years and all for good reason, but meeting new people never changes, that’s what I love about this job. I love meeting new people. No two days are the same because the patients are never the same. They can be okay one day, bad the next, or they pass on.”

Suzanne’s main coping mechanism for when things get tough is simple. She sees herself as no different to a midwife.

“A midwife brings life into this world, we’re there at the end of the journey,” she said.

“If you can make somebody’s death a good one, with love and support, then you’ve done your job. It’s a privilege sometimes to sit with somebody and hold their hand as they take their last breath.”