Hospice

It's a lovely place with well-kempt gardens, a huge conservatory and flat-screen TVs should you want. They give you a butterfly (sub-cutaneous needle) through which to administer titrated opiates of long or short acting duration, as required. Thanks to the palliative team, Dad was both all there cognitively and in much less pain when I visited today.

He's coaching one of his wonderful nurses, Carmen, in Italiano. Her husband is currently working in Parma, and she's teaching herself Italian. 'No charge' he said tonight, after promoting a language tutorial by introducing me and then discussing his drug administration with Carmen in Italian.