St Ann’s Hospice is joining forces with national charity Hospice UK and other hospices across the country to launch the Open Up Hospice Care campaign aimed at widening access to end-of-life care.

New analysis published by Hospice UK has found that nationally one in four families of people who require end-of-life care, including hospice care, are not getting the support they need.

St Ann’s – which is one of the oldest hospices outside of London and has been providing care to people from across Greater Manchester for almost half a century – has joined the campaign to help raise awareness of the breadth of support hospices can provide, and to help open up its specialist care provision to even more people.

Eamonn O’Neal, Chief Executive of St Ann’s, said: “We believe passionately that the specialist care hospices provide to people who are at their most vulnerable, should be available to everyone who needs it.

“We work closely with healthcare professionals across Greater Manchester to ensure as many people as possible can access our care, and we have also been working hard in recent months to widen our reach to local community groups that wouldn’t necessarily previously have thought hospice care was for them.

“There’s a lot more to be done, but we’re hoping this latest campaign will help shine a light on the fact that St Ann’s is here to help anyone with a life-limiting illness who might benefit from our care – whether that’s as an inpatient here, or via day care or complementary therapy services.

“We welcome enquiries from anyone from across Greater Manchester, and are always happy to look at ways we can support local people.”

The Open Up Hospice Care campaign seeks to raise awareness among the public about the fact that hospice care is available to all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability or illness.