19/10/2026
End of Life rooms: DANDELION APPEAL: today we had the pleasure of meeting Debbie Boulden who is the End-of-Life Lead Nurse for Broomfield, Basildon and Southend Hospitals. Debbie is passionate about creating the best possible experience for our patients who are at this stage of their life, for their families, and loved ones to be able to remember such an important time with kindness and positive memories.
The idea for an APPEAL to fund a series of End-of-Life rooms came via a presentation given by Debbie to the Trust Board recalling the story of one of her patients and giving examples of how Debbie and the Palliative Care team work with patients and families. Members of the Board engaged with Debbie and asked “What do you need, how can we make this better” …. and after a lot of hard work, the DANDELION APPEAL was launched.
At £5,000 per room, The Friends are delighted to have donated £20,000 plus a further £5,000, donated by Chelmsford Round Table to fund the first five End-of-Life rooms for our Care of the Elderly and Stroke wards at Broomfield Hospital. The rooms have been styled sympathetically to allow maximum comfort for all … creating a ‘home from home’ atmosphere with soft furnishings, relatives’ beds, recliner chairs, DAB radios, battery operated tea light candles and diffusers – all of which help to distract from the clinical environment outside the door – but are still infection control compliant. The DANDELION theme is present in each room and is a recognised end-of-life symbol to staff across all three hospitals.
Debbie told us that although the primary focus is their patient, care extends to the family and friends who are ‘living this grief day to day’. The ability for them to spend quality time with their loved one is essential. Small details are what is remembered; the kindness of the nurse; the time and individual support given to a family member; the offer of chaplaincy or just a cup of tea every now and then.
Debbie and the team offer relatives and friends a ‘care pack’ made up of basic toiletry items if they suddenly need to stay overnight … the aim being, in some small way, to reduce the stress of having to go out and shop for essentials.
When asked how the staff have reacted to a finished room … Debbie said, “They love it … it makes a real difference … they feel they can give more quality of care to the patient and family… each room should be made as ‘homely as homely can be’ to personalise it for the patient’s comfort”. Our aim is to leave the family with a good memory … and, over time, the ambition, through the APPEAL is to create an End-of Life -room on every ward.
When the family leaves the hospital for the final time, they are given a tote bag, bearing a dandelion motif for their loved one’s belongings … again the motif reminds any passing staff member that we have a family in grief … so they may offer an additional act of kindness or support to help them on their journey.
