ST LUKE'S Hospice in Plymouth and Hospiscare in Exeter, who provide hospice services throughout West Devon, have this week been adding their voice to more than 200 other hospices across the UK to create awareness of 'Hospice care, everywhere' during Hospice Care Week 2014.

The aim of Hospice Care Week which started on Monday and runs until Sunday, is to raise public awareness about the diversity of hospice care and highlight that it is available in many different settings beyond hospice buildings — a hospice without walls.

St Luke's diverse team of professional staff and volunteers cared for over 3000 people last year at home, in hospital and at the hospice based in Turnchapel.

St Luke's also played an important role in supporting and educating staff and volunteers working in other settings beyond the hospice, including local care homes who have been trained in end of life care as part of St Luke's nationally awarded, Six Steps+ Programme.

In Derriford Hospital, St Luke's have a specialist team that work alongside hospital staff to deliver palliative care across every ward.

The local charity is keen to highlight that, not only is hospice care provided in its in-patient unit at Turnchapel, in fact, the vast majority of hospice care is provided in people's own homes.

The community team is a highly skilled team of specialist nurses, social workers and occupational therapists that deliver this care to people in the Tavistock area.

Head of community care at St Luke's Hospice Plymouth, Maggie Draper, said: 'National research conducted by Help the Hospices tells us that the majority of people want to be cared for at home and this is where the main drive of our care will expand over the coming months.

'Our in-patient unit will always be at the heart of St Luke's and offer specialist care for those who cannot be cared for at home, but for the majority of our patients, the comfort of their own home with support from the St Luke's specialist nurses gives them the vital care they need in the last months of life.

'In any given week, we are caring for over 350 patients at home, often in rural locations.

'When you live in a rural location a journey for a patient or relative without transport can prove a problem, so delivering care to them at home makes total sense.'

What is perhaps surprising to many is the wide geographical area the St Luke's specialist community team covers.

In 2014 alone its nurses travelled more than 48,000 miles, taking in the rural terrain of Dartmoor, Tavistock and Princetown.

Cathy Martin, one of two specialist St Luke's nurses for the Tavistock area, said: 'Last year we cared for 85 patients at home in the Tavistock area.

'I work alongside a great team of social workers and occupational therapists to ensure we live in a community where no person has to die alone, in pain or in distress.

'Our relationship with local GP surgeries and district nurses in the Tavistock area and Tavistock Hospital are key to delivering the best end of life care for local people.

'I sometimes think people have this perception of St Luke's as being very Plymouth focussed, when in fact the Tavistock area is just as important to us — it is challenging to deliver good end of life care to people in their own homes in this rural area and our care is in great demand.'

In November St Luke's will be taking care at home to the next stage, by launching a Crisis Team.

Investing £600,000, the charity hopes the new service will reach even more people at home, deliver better end of life care for those who live in more rural and outer city locations, and reduce the strain on local hospitals, as care is delivered in a patient's own home.

This free, 24 hour service will offer a 72 hour window of 'crisis' care until other care provisions are put in place.