When Jackie Whiller joined Mountbatten 14 years ago, hospice care was often seen as a service for the final days of life. Today, Jackie is on the frontline of a shift in that philosophy through Mountbatten’s community outpatient service.

“The service is about catching people much earlier in their journey,” Jackie explains. “It’s for those who are ‘living well’ but struggling with complex symptoms. We provide specialist support to help manage those challenges, working alongside existing services to ensure no one falls through the cracks.” 

Launched to provide a vital bridge between hospital and home, the service offers expert medication reviews and — crucially — time.

“Often, Mountbatten’s services are ‘firefighting’ because people are referred to us so late,” Jackie says. “By seeing people earlier, we can overhaul their care before they reach a crisis point.”

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Referrals to Jackie’s clinic come from across the health system — GPs, district nurses, and hospital teams — and are triaged by Mountbatten’s senior community team to identify those with the most complex needs.

Jackie’s passion for the service is rooted in her own lived experience of chronic pain. “I know what it’s like when your body feels like it’s failing you,” she shares. “It allows me to look a person in the eye and say, ‘I understand.’ It gives them the confidence to try a different path.”

One of those people was Jack (click here to read his story). By overhauling his medication and providing a direct line for reassurance, Jackie helped him move from "just surviving" to actually living again — enabling him to take his family on a dream trip to Lapland.

“That means everything to me,” Jackie shares. “To know I helped Jack achieve that.”

“My motto is: we live until we die, and that is the heart of this service,” Jackie says. “Giving someone the confidence to go out and live again.”

Click here to support Island families like Jack's today.

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