HUNDREDS of hospital patients have benefited from better end-of-life care thanks to an ambitious hospice.

Sobell House in Oxford has marked the first milestone of a 'vital' outreach programme, which is integral to its four-year mission to improve palliative care in the county.

The Headington hospice has helped to comfort 200 patients at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford in the past seven months, whose incurable conditions threatened to cut their life short.

In October a new team of staff was deployed inside the JR's emergency departments, as part of a £2m plan to care for terminally ill patients outside the hospice itself.

Sobell's clinical lead Mary Miller described the outreach as 'vital work' that is more proactive than the previous model, in which Sobell staff helped hospital patients by referral-only.

She said: "The newly-appointed team reflects the model of multidisciplinary care, which is at the core of hospice teams.

"We will be able to see many more patients and focus on those who are recognised as being at high risk of dying in the hours or days after being admitted to hospital.

"This is a really exciting programme to support Oxford University Hospitals staff in providing good care to patients who are dying, and offer support to their families.

"It brings the end of life expertise to many more patients outside of Sobell House Hospice."

The team includes a consultant in palliative medicine, consultant pharmacist, a specialist nurse and occupational therapists, who check in daily with hospital ward staff to see how they can help.

Sobell House itself has 18 beds for inpatients at its base at the Churchill Hospital, many of whom are in the final days of their life.

It cares for about 400 inpatients each year, but there are 3,000 people who die in Oxfordshire hospitals each year – of which just one third are thought to have had specialist end-of-life care.

The collaboration will be rolled out in other departments at the John Radcliffe in the coming year.

It is part of Sobell's wider £9m growth plan, announced in January last year, which also includes a £5m physical expansion and a £2m outreach programme into patients' homes.

Sobell House chief executive Diane Gardner said: "We are delighted to make our first announcement following the growth strategy that we unveiled last year.

"Our aim is to grow end of life care in Oxfordshire and ensure everyone who needs it has access to quality care - whether they are at home, in the hospital or in our hospice."

This week Sobell is raising awareness of Dying Matters, a national coalition that promotes conversation about death and dying.

Staff have set up stands at Oxford University Hospitals to promote information about making wills, donating organs and planning for funerals.