Making a difference

To the Staff and Management of Buckingham Gardens Nursing Home,

Our Mother, Margaret Gower, passed away at 8.40am on the 15th February 2019 after being diagnosed with a serious brain bleed at the beginning of the week. Could you please pass on our gratitude to all the staff and Management of Buckingham Gardens for their assistance to Mum and her family during this difficult time.

During the last week of her life, all the staff showed considerable compassion to Mum and her family, going above and beyond our expectations of how her last days would be. When it became clear that she was in the last phase of her life, we were advised every step of the way how the end of life would be. These were very emotional days for us all, but we were never made to feel that we were in the way. Whenever we had moments we would cry, there was always a carer nearby to offer us comfort and hugs, and they were all very gentle with our Mother

Two days before she passed, Pastor Lynda introduced us to a lady by the name of Judith, who spent the last two evenings of Mums life with her, singing to her and reading to her from the Bible. And each morning when we arrived we would find letter for us from Judith, advising what she had done with Mum the night before. With the first note she also left a Gardenia from her garden and the fragrance of this flower stayed in Mum’s room for her final days, and the following night a hand crafted cross which we will leave with Mum on her final journey.

On our last evening with Mum, one of the nurses asked how many of us would be there at dinner time so the staff could make us sandwiches, we were just blown away by the thoughtfulness of this gesture.

We were so impressed with everyone at Buckingham Gardens that we wanted to let Management know how the staff treated us like their family, and while there were many different personalities there, it just worked.

Thank you all so much, our memories of Mums last days will always be remembered with happiness.

- Carol Little, Kevin Tucker, Michael Tucker and Sue Tucker
17 February 2019