On a typical day, June Kibuthu starts working around 8 o’clock, catching up on her emails and reading the notes for the patients she will see that day. The services open at 9 am. As she walks through the corridors of Newham Hospital, colleagues from different departments reach out to her for advice with patients. June is the team leader for palliative care.

Besides herself, two clinical nurse specialists (CNS), a social worker and two consultants who work part time between Newham Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust and Royal London Hospital, visit the different wards to provide symptom control and psycho-social support for patients, as well as empowering nurses who work close to patients with long term illnesses.

Despite her passion and commitment, being a nurse wasn’t always her aspiration. Before coming to England from Kenya, June considered careers in fashion or human rights law. In the end it was during a visit to family in the UK and a hunt for university courses that she set her sights on nursing.

One year later, she moved to England and enrolled on an access to nursing course at Newham College while waiting to take up a place at City University the following year.

She said: “Within the first moments, as I was getting to know the ethics of nursing, I felt that was it. It fitted like a glove. As much as people call it a vocation, for me it was a career.”

Four and a half years experience as a community district nurse in Tower Hamlets changed her life. “I met patients with cancer in joint visits and I was inspired by one of my colleagues. I loved how she spoke to them, with respect, concern, empathy. I walked away saying ‘I want to be her”.

In September 2012, June started working in Newham Hospital where she became a Macmillan nurse and a team leader five years later. Her goal is to break the taboo of end of life care. June said: “I educate all nurses that our patients are not a person who has cancer. It’s an individual who had dreams and aspirations before getting cancer. We must do what is best for the person. What can make it a little better for them?”

Active and empathetic listening is crucial. “Patients share their wishes with us, because we are not part of the family, we won’t judge them. And then we must encourage the patient to open up to the family about those wishes and we facilitate these conversations.

“You must make an assessment of where the patient is at, where they were before and how the family sees them. It’s a complex dynamic. Children stop sharing concerns with the dad, for example, so the mom has to deal with everything, because dad is not well.”

With Covid-19, their work routines changed overnight. June and her team were seeing fewer patients. Instead, they were providing support and chasing them over the phone.

The worst aspect was breaking bad news over the phone. “When we have to tell someone that a loved one has died, in a face-to-face conversation usually the person will be silent for a while and the nurse will share that silence. They need a moment to take in what they have heard. Over the phone the tendency is to keep talking and giving information about the next steps. This is something we had to learn. How to give them that silence and time over the phone.”

The greatest takeaway of the pandemic, for June, is the humanity and feeling of togetherness among the staff. She said: “Seeing each other in the corridors and asking: how are you today? Are you well? We were supporting each other; we were there for each other.” Because there is no manual to deal with a pandemic, nurses shared ideas across departments.

The most rewarding thing about June’s job is to know she can actually make the difference. Even after leaving care, patients often still get in touch. Even in the worst cases, when the battle against cancer is not won, families sometimes call on the anniversaries of their late loved ones to check in on her and say they are slowly but surely getting back.

Anyone in need of cancer support can call the free Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, open 7 days a week, 8am-8pm, or visit www.macmillan.org.uk. If you are experiencing cancer symptoms you should contact your GP as a matter of urgency.

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