About the charity

A Hospice is all about living and achieving the best possible quality of life for every single moment.  We support our patients and their carers, aiming at all times to improve the quality of life remaining. At St Luke's we share the ethos of the late Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern Hospice movement:

"You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can to help you not only to die peacefully, but also to live until you die"

We aim to provide high quality specialist Palliative Care that is tailored as far as possible to the individual needs of the people who are our patients.  Such care seeks to be holistic in nature, acknowledging that patients facing a life limiting illness have not only physical symptoms but also emotional, spiritual and social needs.  We will do all we can to involve patients in decisions about their care, to maintain privacy and dignity in providing that care, and to respect patients’ individual rights and religious and cultural beliefs.

We provide specialist palliative care for patients with progressive and incurable life-limiting illnesses who have complex symptoms and psychosocial needs requiring the input of a multi-professional palliative care team.

Inpatient care at the Hospice may be offered to those who have needs, which at the present time require assessment, treatment and monitoring as an inpatient.  Care is offered not on the basis of specific diagnosis (e.g. cancer), but on the basis of specialist needs.

We also provide terminal care i.e. care for those in the last days of life, when such care cannot be adequately provided in a community setting (home or Nursing Home).

We do not routinely offer planned respite care, however, this is occasionally offered to patients who have progressive incurable life-limiting illness and complex medical or nursing interventions requiring the input of a multi-professional Palliative Care team, when such care cannot easily be provided elsewhere.