10 Sep 2021 Care

Janet Ellis and her passion for The Kirkwood’s amazing work throughout Kirklees

Janet Ellis has been a Locala nurse for the past 12 years. Working in the local area, she has seen the breadth of incredible support that The Kirkwood provides to people here in Kirklees. 

Janet, 57 has been working in the health care sector for over a decade. She is extremely passionate about The Kirkwood and let’s everyone know about the support they provide as often as she can; she tells both patients and colleagues alike about the services that can help them.  

Janet feels The Kirkwood is a vitally important charity for the whole of Kirklees. She said: “The Kirkwood is just a fantastic charity, it really understands people’s needs and emotions, and being a local nurse, I see this daily. The support they provide people is second to none and everyone who works for The Kirkwood should be very proud of the work they do. 

“They work as a team, everything is joined up, nothing is left out, everything is thought of, and for the families of people who are either grieving or dealing with a terrible illness that is important. People go through enough stress with dealing with some of the most devastating news in their lives, but The Kirkwood are right there.” 

Janet believes more people in Kirklees should seek out The Kirkwood if they do need support and shouldn’t see that first contact as something to be scared of. 

She said: “I hear people all the time when they say that it’s just a building in Huddersfield and it’s somewhere you go to die. I instantly tell them that isn’t correct, The Kirkwood provide so much more than just that.  

“People are scared to go and speak to a hospice because they just think that’s where the road ends. Again, this isn’t true, The Kirkwood give people the chance to enjoy however long they have left, it’s a positive charity not a negative one. 

“They see what the person needs, how they need to access it and if there is a long-term aim. It isn’t about going there to die; it’s about going there to get help to manage the pain and then to go and live your life as best you can.” 

One thing Janet is also very appreciative of is the support she is provided as a nurse; The Kirkwood is a movement of people and so it wants to make sure not just patients are supported but colleagues working in other healthcare roles too. This includes staff that The Kirkwood work in partnerships with, such as Locala, The Kirkwood believe that if our healthcare colleagues are supported in the right way, it will give them the best opportunity to help the people that need support. 

“The Kirkwood have provided me with courses to learn from, whether that’s completing a life limiting illness course, and end of life course or a communication course.” Janet explained. Adding: “All these things are important to my job because as a nurse you can have difficult conversations with patients.  

“When we have a patient, who is nervous about going into The Kirkwood, we can always call them and ask them for their advice and guidance. That helps us as nurses make better decisions and it’s nice to feel as local nurses we are supported too.”