'We are supporting people in making the most of life'
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MIKE Rattenbury sees a lot of sadness in the course of his work as Highland Hospice chaplain. It's an inevitable part of a job that is centred on providing spiritual care to people with incurable, life-limiting illnesses.
Yet there are many uplifting moments too, and laughter is never far away. The entire hospice team is dedicated to treating patients as individuals, with respect and consideration, and it is this focus on ensuring maximum quality of life that Mike finds especially heartening.
"There's a lot of tears but there's an awful lot of laughs," he says. "A lot of people say you take life for granted and suddenly, when you realise it's in short supply, you are very keen to make the most of it.
"Part of what we're doing obviously is end-of-life care, which can be very sad. You're sitting with somebody who is dying, and may literally die whilst you're with them. But there's also the quality of life aspect to it, particularly people who come in for the day. We're supporting them in living with the illness and making the most of life.
"There can often be a very cheerful side to working here, as well as obviously the very sad side."
Mike (54) is originally from Kent and trained at London Bible College (now the London School of Theology) in the late 1970s. He first became involved in hospice work in 1999, in Hull, and moved to Highland Hospice in 2005. He is an experienced minister – although he doesn't stand on ceremony. "I am a Rev but everyone calls me Mike, and I'm happy with that," he says. "It's less formal."
Many of the patients he speaks to are church members who have their own minister or priest. "Whilst I would certainly spend a lot of time with people who belong to a church, I spend a lot of time with people who don't – and I would say probably the more important part of my role is working with people who have got spiritual needs but don't have a minister of their own, which makes it very interesting," he says.
"One of the biggest things is overcoming the initial hurdle. A lot of people think I'm there to do something religious to them. Sometimes people say, 'Oh, I don't want to see the chaplain – I'm not religious.' But generally, as you get to know folk, things develop quite naturally.
"It's just spending time with as many people as possible. And then, when things go deeper, you go deeper with them."
Mike conducts a midweek service in one of the hospice lounges and occasionally, if there is a demand, he will take a Sunday service too. He also provides bereavement support, while other aspects of the role range from presiding over memorial services to supervising projects involving local schools.
"There is an element of outreach work and there is an element of home visits but most of it is working with people when they're here," he says. "There's a fair amount of variety.
"The downside is that I can be spread thin, although I overlap in what I do with a lot of other members of the team. Along with the occupational therapists, one of the things that I really enjoy, and that I think is really valuable, is life story work – which is helping patients to tell their story, usually using recorded interviews, and then writing them up with photos.
"If you tell your story, often the questions that you're trying to ask almost answer themselves. Certainly the occupational therapists do more of it than I do, but it is recognised as a key aspect of spiritual care. And there's a whole legacy thing – it's something that people can leave behind or give to their families."
Mike is also very willing to help with funeral planning, if that is what the patient wants.
"I do a fair few funerals if patients don't have their own minister," he explains. "Even if they have, I can be a resource if they want to plan ahead. People tentatively ask if they're being morbid in wanting to plan, so I reassure them that it's a very sensible thing to do. It's good to talk about it in advance, and people get an awful lot of fulfilment out of doing it."
He adds: "Not just me, all of us, the whole team, you just feel bowled over when somebody lets you into their very intimate family/personal life. It's obviously because of the circumstances, but there is that trust there. It's a very special thing."
After seven and a half years in the Highlands, Mike and his wife Carol – who works for Highland Council's environmental health service – are happily settled on the Black Isle, where they keep pigs and hens.
"We always loved the Highlands, so the opportunity to work here was extremely welcome," Mike says. "We are very blessed."
He is delighted at the way hospice services have been expanded over the years to cover so many communities across the region. "I love being part of it," he says.
He speaks of the "emotional intensity" of chaplaincy work, and admits: "Sometimes you feel you've let somebody down, or failed, and it's not gone as you wanted. But it's mostly very fulfilling."
Mike is keen to emphasise that the success of Highland Hospice is all down to teamwork. "Spiritual care is something I specialise in, but I'm not the only one who does it. And in a sense it's not what you do but the way that you do it.
"I would say medicine, if it's done properly, has a spiritual dimension to it. Nursing can be a very spiritual thing if you're caring about the patient as well as caring for them.
"Anybody can make a bed and wash a patient. But if you do it in a way that makes them feel like a lump of meat, or do it in a way that makes them feel loved and cared about, there's a spiritual difference there.
"There is a spiritual dimension to what everybody is doing – the way that the nurses and the therapists take care, treat people with respect and with love, and make them feel that they are individuals and they're special.
"That's all spiritual care."
