The ‘Hospice at Home’ pathway was established from Christchurch Hospital’s Macmillan Unit, in collaboration with the Community Night Nursing Team in Dorset.

It supports patients and their loved ones at the ‘scariest time to be living with an advanced illness’.

Louise Pennington, lead nurse for palliative care, said: “I know many of us, me included, have experienced what 3am can feel like when you are caring for someone who is dying. I am really proud of our teams and the impact that we are having across the system in east Dorset for patients with palliative and end of life care.”

Patients are triaged by a 24/7 helpline, with the service aiming to increase both the capacity and quality of care for patients in their homes overnight.

The collaboration has since been showcased as one of six successful case studies in a report published by Sue Ryder, titled ‘Best practice in end-of-life-care’, with the initiative commended for “implementing services in response to challenges, and meeting local population health needs.”