EDEN VALLEY HOSPICE

Eden Valley Hospice cares for patients, both adult and children, from the Cumbria and South West Scotland area with life-limiting illnesses including cancer, and other conditions such as motor neurone disease, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis, heart failure, chronic lung diseases, renal failure and chronic neurological conditions. We strive to provide the highest standards of nursing and medical care, to sustain quality of life and dignity and to provide patients with relief from pain.

To the families, friends and carers of our patients we extend the same loving support, help and counselling, as such illnesses affect whole families.

The Hospice operates as a 12 bedded adult in-patient unit, a 5 bedded Children's Hospice as well as providing day hospice care for adults and children / young people. The Hospice helps its patients enjoy a better quality of life, often enabling them to do things which they thought had gone forever. It is not just a place where people go to die: many benefit from day hospice care and others return home following a period as an in-patient or attend our out-patients clinics.

Since opening in 1991, over 5, 000 people have directly benefited from the care and support we are able to provide. In 2008 there were 264 admissions to the adult in-patient unit, 53% of these for symptom control, 19% for respite and 29% for end of life care.

As with most voluntary hospices, our purpose, as our Mission Statement says, is “to provide specialist palliative care for people with incurable or life limiting illnesses, enabling them and their carers to live life as fully and independently as possible”

Initially, the hospice provided adult day care only, following which inpatient beds were commissioned.