Charlie Wells - Founder

Charlie Wells - Shipston Home Nursing, the inspiration. In May 1992 my sister, Penny Birtwell, died in Stourton. She was young. She died of breast cancer. Her husband, Andy, and her children, George and Beatrice, graciously and generously allowed us, her siblings, to share being with her and caring for her. Witnessing Penny’s death was deeply painful, but it also gave me the chance to see the enormous value in caring for someone who is so very poorly, in their own home. I chose to work in palliative care as a direct result. It was difficult, however, to know how to start to set up such a service. I started to have tentative discussions about this with Dr Chris Thorogood and Dr Theo Schofield, both general practitioners at the Shipston Medical Centre. They, too, were very keen on exploring the idea. The pace of things started to pick up after this. It seemed as though fate took a hand in the next few months and wonderful people from the area started to show an enormous interest in the service. Andrew Knight threw his energy, advice and enthusiasm behind the project and headed up the original committee, which established a wonderful board of Trustees and supporters.

We had endured interminable visits to specialists and hospitals, we had sat on innumerable hard chairs in innumerable A & E departments. We had travelled miles down hospital corridors in increasingly decrepit wheelchairs. We had waited for endless telephone calls giving us results, or arranging appointments - they were always late. But we never gave up hope that someone somewhere would be able to help. So when we were advised by the final specialists that nothing further could be done we were desolate and wondered how on earth to continue. That was when a side of the NHS came to our rescue, and with them came Shipston Home Nursing. Without these wonderful people, real angels of mercy, I wouldn't have been able to be with Robin until the end. My gratitude to them is total and I feel privileged to have benefited from the care of such a unique group of people.

He was one of the strongest men I have ever known, ambitious, intelligent, a good family man and friend and very, very clear-minded about how he would control and manage his treatments. He approached this problem as he approached his professional life, with firstly a great deal of consideration, research and private consideration of the options presented to him, then deciding a strategy and following it through with meticulous records and verifying all he was told. This was a tried and tested system. When we realised we could not cure his illness he asked me to follow through his wishes if I could. All he wanted after realising this was a problem he could not solve was to die with dignity and in the place he knew best and was most happy in, home. Staff at the world-renowned Royal Marsden Hospital commented on Shipston Home Nursing with respect. We are hugely fortunate to have Shipston Home Nursing in this area.

We were told in November 2002 that my husband Roy had an inoperable brain tumour and overnight it had robbed him of all the use of one side of his body and his speech. With practice the speech did return so that he could be understood but lost all his dignity as he could not even stand without help and there are so many things that you cannot do one handed. After Christmas things went downhill rather quickly. I was worn out because of lack of sleep and this did not help me get through the day. It was then that our case was passed to Shipston Home Nursing. I remember the first night that a nurse arrived on the dot at 10pm - a quick cup of tea and by 10:30pm I was in bed knowing that I could sleep till 5:30am - it really was a dream. All the nurses involved with Shipston Home Nursing are so reliable, no matter what the weather was like, and we had some snowy and foggy nights but at 10pm the doorbell always rang.