Support Khayna Hospice

Khanya Hospice is a hospice providing home palliative care to the community of the south coast of Kwa Zulu Natal, covering an area of approximately 1500 miles with a small team of registered nurses and healthcare assistants. The staff work in very challenging situations, lack of sanitation and running water to name but a few. They are often visiting terminally ill patients who have been sent home from hospitals with inadequate or no medication to control their distressing symptoms such as nausea, severe pain breathless and anxiety. Recently the staff visited a young woman whose pain medication was stopped prior to her discharge home with advanced  cancer of vulva as the doctor was worried about the small amount of morphine she was on, a common problem we see as there are many misconceptions about opioid drugs and there use. Sue the nurse manager was able to assess her as an emergency and arrange adequate pain medication after giving her an injection to settle her pain.

The rolling hills present a challenge in the summer as some of the dirt roads in the rural areas are flooded and running with water and mud. This means we can take our transport to patients necessitating walks down slippery rock strewn paths to reach people who desperately need our help. Our team then park and walk to patients’ homes as you can see from the photos. The majority of our patients are from poverty stricken areas with poor or absent medical and nursing facilities",said a senior staff member. Most of these patients live in small poorly constructed homes with insufficient ventilation which leads to the spread of Tuberculosis another frequent life limiting illness in South Africa .

We would like to support the hospice to buy much needed supplies, for example syringe drivers, to keep patients pain free and comfortable at the end of their lives.  We also need medical equipment that staff and families can use to ensure patients are washed and dressings changed when needed. 

Much of the care is done by family members or community members supported and trained  by the hospice staff. They need clean disposable washcloths, incontinence pads, specialist soaps and creams all of which are not funded by the government. Many patients and families are unemployed so have no way of buying these items themselves .

As a specialist palliative care nurse working in the UK and previously in South Africa I know there is a vast difference in support and facilities and would like to make a difference.

Please join us to raise these much needed funds,  one new syringe driver costs around £1400  and they need as many as possible as they are looking after around 170 patients at any one time. The hospice receives no government funding so rely on donations to make a difference to these people as they live with their life limiting illness.