In June 2020 I had a baby who was born with a rare genetic condition. She spent 2.5 months in the Neonatal Unit and after surgery, she finally came home. Liv was assigned to us as a community nurse and since my baby was tube fed Liv was helping us out a lot. It was a completely new experience for us, at times I felt anxious just leaving the house. Liv was there for me, listening and giving advice about how to look after my baby and teaching me about providing care for her tube feeding. She wanted me to get more confident and she was amazing at supporting me and my husband at the lowest points. Liv was also really warm and caring, she really loves children. Soon my baby is going to start attending the nursery and Liv was there helping to train the staff. I couldn’t have done it without Liv, she was there every step of the way, we are so lucky to have met her.

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Liv has been our community nurse for the last year. Initially, she started by helping us when our daughter had her first gastrostomy fitted in Oxford. Since then though her support and help has gone way beyond just helping with advice with tube feeding. Liv is always ready to help, always approachable, and very caring towards our whole family and our little family; from the dog to our two-year-old, thoroughly enjoy her visits too. Liv is always ready and willing to make a fuss, play with the children and take her time to build relationships with the whole family. Her visits never feel rushed and she always gives us 100% of her attention. Our daughter has very complex medical needs and these have evolved over the past year that Liv has known us. She understands that caring for an acutely unwell child has lots of challenges and I know that if I ever have a question or a worry, I can discuss it with Liv and she will endeavor to do her best to help. Liv goes above and beyond to make sure that our family feels supported and cared for. She has attended multi-professional team meetings to create an advanced care plan, and she has visited my daughter in hospital, both in intensive care and then on a ward. 

Her community team that works alongside her at the hospital is also kept well informed so that they can support us as a family during hospital stays and communicate any needs we may have to Liv. Our child struggles to build relationships with new medical professionals and is wary of them too due to the number of hospital stays and interventions she has had to have. Liv has supported her through her worries, playing alongside her and being a friendly face. She knows that it is important to build a trusting relationship with her patients first and that their mental health and wellbeing is of great importance. Through Liv’s caring nature, gentle approach, and a little bit of silliness too, our daughter has built a very trusting relationship with her and she allows Liv to examine her and change her gastrostomy button with minimum fuss.

Liv has become a very important part of our family’s life, she is wonderful and we are so grateful for the love, care and support she has shown us over the last 18 months. It has been a very emotional, very challenging time and the future is full of uncertainty for our daughter too. I know that with Liv by our side we will be in the best hands and that she will do everything to make sure that we have all that we need to care for our daughter's ever-changing needs and degenerative medical condition. I cannot thank her enough and I only hope that all families have a “Liv” in their lives too.