Joyce Daniels
Joyce worked at Cane Hill hospital:
"Some patients were there a lifetime.
There were some,
they hadn't seen a relative
for 30 odd years,
but their relatives were still alive,
because at the time of death
they'd come
and they'd be claiming
this and that and the other,
like belongings and money
if they thought they had money."
"It used to be very distressing
as well as annoying
to know all these years
they haven't seen them.
Those were the cases
that really used to ache one's mind."
"When the patients died,
you had to lay them out.
You washed the body,
lay them out straight,
you had an indelible pen
and you note their names,
the time of their death
and their number
written on the soles of their feet.
But they weren't just dumped
and rolled.
We had to lay them out,
put the shroud on,
and fit it properly,
even put a flower in their hand.
Doing the best for the last".
