INPATIENTS from Salisbury Hospice will be staying at the new Salisbury Manor Care Home while the building undergoes an extensive refurbishment.

Ten beds will be made available at the new Gracewell Healthcare home, in Wilton Road, while the hospice gets a £528,000 upgrade, following a successful application for funds from Help for Hospices and the Department of Health.

Ceri Hurford Jones, chairman of trustees of Salisbury Hospice Charity said: “The charity is delighted to have secured this funding; this refurbishment will allow the hospice to best meet the needs of patients and their families.”

The refurbishment will include internal design, art, colour and lighting. Five of the current 10 single rooms will also have en-suite bathrooms put in. The work, on the Salisbury District Hospital site, is scheduled to take 12 weeks to complete.

Peter Hill, chief executive of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are working with the Salisbury Hospice charity and carrying out a major refurbishment of the building to provide a more comforting and sensitive environment for patients and their families.

“As these improvements will take place across the whole of the hospice, inpatients will move temporarily to Salisbury Manor Care Home while work takes place.

“Salisbury Manor is an ideal location and has excellent first-class facilities and we are very grateful to Gracewell Healthcare for their support and their help in providing temporary accommodation for these patients. Our specialist staff will work closely with Salisbury Manor, providing the clinical care for these patients during this period.”

Peter Curtis, chief executive of Gracewell Healthcare, which runs Salisbury Manor, said: “Salisbury Hospice provides an essential service for the community so we were keen to offer our wonderful new facilities to assist them with their refurbishment.

“The quality of care and the warm atmosphere at the home, created by our wonderful staff, will make this a peaceful place to stay for the patients coming from the hospice.”

The hospice opened in 1987 and was extended in 1995. Since then it has undergone some refurbishment, but this work will be more extensive and will cover all outpatient and inpatient areas, as well as the main reception and waiting room area.