THE opening of a new care and support centre at Wirral Hospice St John's heralds the start of 'new era' in its treatment of cancer patients, says the organisation's chief executive.

Julie Gorry said the new space will 'join-up' the care and support provided for patients, providing a health care hub for use by community groups across Wirral.

Funding for £1m development came from a Department of Health grant and public donations through the hospice's Families Matter Appeal. Work on the new wing was completed in June.

The building was handed over from architect John Nozedar and Mellwood Construction's site manager, Danny Ambrose, to hospice operations director, Paul Rushbrook and facilities manager, Mark Jones.

Speaking at the time work was completed Julie Gorry said: "The additional space will enable us to implement even more effectively the vision of Integrated Shared Care.

"This aims to bring all the health and social care professionals together, allowing them to work even more effectively, and offering patients, their carers and families wraparound care, without needing to increase the number of beds we have at the Hospice.

"We like to think of this new way of working as a 'Hospice without walls'.

"In essence, more patients will be helped to live as comfortably as possible with their illness, and we believe that those caring for them will also benefit, feeling recognised and supported during what can be an extremely difficult time."

Elaine Pugh, outpatients services manager, said: "The new building is going to be a fantastic resource. It will give us the ability to help all those affected by serious conditions and also support the other professionals who are responsible for providing care for them.

"We can now welcome other professionals, who would normally be based elsewhere, sharing our skills in palliative care with them and theirs with us.

"We can share the space and plan treatment together to provide truly wraparound care."

One of the rooms will be child friendly, for conversations with children whose lives have been affected by cancer.

For more on how to help the hospice, contact Teresa Nightingale, head of fundraising on 0151 343 0778 or visit www.wirralhospice.org To donate to the Families Matter Appeal, visit www.wirralhospice.org/hospice_families_matter.html