About us
You are at the heart of everything we do
You are at the heart of everything we do
Since 1984, we've provided care and support to people in North Devon affected by life-limiting illnesses. We started with one Community Nurse covering the area, and now support around 3,000 people every year, offering specialist care at home and at our two hospice sites, Deer Park and The Long House.
The hospice's day-to-day activities are managed by a Senior Management team, as well as the other staff who work for the charity.
We have over 100 employees working in every facet of the charity, from our IT department to our charity shops. We're delighted to introduce you to just a handful of the incredible team who make North Devon Hospice such a special place to be.
However, our staff could not do it alone, and are superbly supported by an army of volunteers, over 500 infact! We are very lucky to have their help with every aspect of hospice life. This includes our Board of Trustees, who help set the strategic direction for the charity, and who ultimately have responsibility for the whole organisation.
Although a lot has changed since our humble beginnings in 1984, one thing remains very much the same; our patients and their families are at the heart of everything we do.
We offer care and support to those people who are affected by a life-limiting illness such as cancer and have been providing care and support for local patients and their families for over 40 years.
Although the majority of our care and support is provided in people's own homes, we offer a range of care and support from our two hospice sites in North Devon.
To provide outstanding care and support to the community of North Devon who are impacted by a life limiting illness. The difference we want to make is all about you, the people of North Devon. Your life is a story and we want the ending to matter. Together, you can help us make sure that death is as dignified and pain free as possible.
Your life's a story, the ending matters.
Our aim is simple, we recognise and treat every person as an individual, providing support and a sense of safety throughout your journey. Our professional and highly specialised teams will wrap the whole family up in what is affectionately referred to as 'the hospice hug', to ensure your whole family feel comforted and uplifted.
As health and social care professionals, we don't work in isolation, we are part of a much bigger team. For the benefit of every patient and family member touched by a life-limiting illness, we believe in making a difference by sharing specialist knowledge, skills and working together with other health and social care professionals to enhance patient care.
Our clinical teams work closely with:
- GP Practices and District Nurses
- Nursing Homes and Residential Homes
- Hospitals and Community Hospitals
- Domiciliary Care Agencies
Our work has been met with national acclaim on many occasions. With thanks to Regional, National and International organisations for recognising the work of the hospice in the local community.
Barnstaple's best-kept secret! Open to the public 7-days a week from 11am - 4pm, for delicious food in stunning surroundings.
Thought you knew all the best places to eat in North Devon? Think again! The Terrace Cafe at Deer Park is open for everyone to enjoy. With the added bonus of free parking and garden walks too - well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.
During the Autumn & Winter, our opening times may vary, please call ahead of your visit to check.
Use some of our beautiful spaces for your meetings or functions
Looking for that perfect meeting space? In search of a function room with a difference? Host your event in the beautiful and tranquil surroundings of North Devon Hospice.
We have a range of spaces for you to hire, from small meetings rooms to large function spaces, all available with our outstanding catering options too.
Download the full Room Booking Brochure here to find out more and view rates, then give us a call to book.
Our main base in Barnstaple, is home to our Bedded Unit which offers round-the-clock care, as well as a host of other services. In addition, it acts as a base for the many support functions of the hospice which are vital to the charity (including the fundraising team, education department, finance operation and more).
The Long House is our outreach centre in Holsworthy, which provides care and support closer to home for people in this remote corner of North Devon. Previously, people living in the Holsworthy area were faced with a 2-hour round trip to access services at out main hospice site in Barnstaple. Thanks to The Long House, they can now receive a wide range of care and support on their doorstep.
Without the financial support from local, regional and national funding bodies, our multi-disciplinary team simply would not be able to bring free care and support to the North Devon community.
From humble beginnings in 1984 to caring for local people for over 4 decades, below is a snapshot of our history which we are incredibly proud to share with you.
North Devon Hospice was founded in 1981 by local people who saw the need to provide specialist care for people in North Devon who were affected by a life-limiting illness.
After 3 years of planning and fundraising, we recruited our first home care nurse in 1984. For the next three years, the hospice operated a community nursing service from a small terraced house in Vicarage Lawn in the centre of Barnstaple.
In 1987, our Day Care service was added, offering the chance for patients to spend the day with us to meet others in a similar situation and have consultations with our specialist nurses. In 1990 the services expanded by purchasing the house next door and knocking through to create a larger area for patients to gather.
In 1993, we moved to our present site at Deer Park, Newport; an Edwardian property set in large grounds with panoramic views of Barnstaple and the estuary. This move was kindly facilitated by Vivian Moon and his fellow directors of Webbers Estate Agents, who owned the property previously.
In 1998, the 'Diana, Princess of Wales' wing was opened by the broadcaster, Martyn Lewis. This extension was built primarily to house the extensive complementary therapy service we offer, as well as rooms for our support groups and The Retreat; a quiet area for reflection and peace.
In 2002 and 2003, we ran a successful appeal to raise the money needed to build a Bedded Unit extension at Deer Park, so that 24-hour care could be provided to those most in need. This was a huge undertaking, both in terms of raising funds and the additional provision of care. It was the most significant event in the hospice's history, since appointing our very first nurse in 1984, and changed the landscape of end-of-life care in North Devon.
In June 2005, we admitted the first patient to our new 7-bedded in-patient facility.
Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, officially opened the hospice's new bedded unit on 10 April 2006. The visit was a fitting tribute to the people of North Devon who generously understood that providing 24-hour hospice care to those most in need in our community is not a luxury, but a necessity.
In 2009, thanks to a government grant, we were able to open the Terrace Café and brand new kitchen facilities at Deer Park. The café is the hub of the building, where patients, families, visitors, volunteers and staff all mix together over a cuppa or some freshly prepared food. The new kitchens allow us to be more responsive to the dietary needs of our patients, cooking them what they need, when they need it.
In 2014, North Devon Hospice celebrated 30 years of care throughout North Devon. This major milestone was celebrated throughout the year and was an acknowledgement of 30 years of care provided in people's own homes throughout the area.
In 2015, after 2 years of planning and fundraising, we opened our first outreach centre in Holsworthy. From this purpose-built centre, called The Long House, we could now offer patients and their families care and support much closer to home, eliminating the need for them to make a 2-hour round trip to our main site in Barnstaple.
Here we hope to answer some of the most common questions about the hospice and our care. However, should you have any additional queries at all, please don't hesitate to get in contact with us.
North Devon Hospice was founded in 1981 by a small group of people who identified the need for specialist hospice care in the area. The first 3 years were spent planning and fundraising and in September 1984, we started caring for patients and families affected by life-limiting illnesses.
Since then, the hospice has grown from the two up, two down terraced house in Vicarage Lawn, Barnstaple, to our present home at Deer Park in Newport and outreach centre in Holsworthy, The Long House. All these years on, the majority of our care and support is still delivered in the homes of our patients.
Visitors are constantly surprised when they walk through the hospice doors at Deer Park or The Long House for the first time. Instead of finding the cold and clinical place that they expected, they walk into a friendly, homely atmosphere where there is plenty of character and laughter.
At our main site at Deer Park, the hospice is set in stunning grounds and people often comment on the panoramic views overlooking Barnstaple, the estuary and rolling hills. Over the years, the former gentleman’s residence has been extended to accommodate our in-patient unit, known as the Bedded Unit.
At Deer Park you will find the Bedded Unit, Supportive Care facilities, the patients' lounge and dining room, the Terrace Café and complementary therapy rooms.
At The Long House, we offer supportive care services, such as one-to-one and group counselling sessions and complementary therapies.
All our services are provided completely free of charge. However, we rely on the generosity of our supporters to help fund our services, support and care.
We need over £6.5 million every year to provide our care and support. The most up to date detail on our income and expenditure can be found in the latest Annual Review.
We generate the majority of our income through fundraising activity, our charity shops and our hospice Lottery. Like most hospices, we receive a small amount of funding from NHS Devon but in the main we rely on the support and generosity of the local community to help us fund our care.
We provide care and support for patients with any condition which is ‘life-limiting.’ Although we are most well known for caring for people with Cancer, we also help patients with Motor Neurone Disease, Muscular Sclerosis, Heart Failure, COPD, Liver Failure, and Renal Failure.
Our care and support also extends to the family members and carers who are affected by someone's illness.
Whilst our care is mainly delivered to people who are directly affected by a life-limiting illness, we believe in being there for all the family and offer support to patients’ loved ones including carers. We can provide care and advice from diagnosis to the final stages of a life-limiting illness.
Volunteers play a crucial role in the hospice and there are plenty of ways you can get involved. You could be interested in working in one of our charity shops, or maybe in helping behind the scenes in the administration of the hospice or you could be interested in supporting the care team.
To read about different types of volunteering opportunities, please visit our Volunteering page or call us for more information.
Palliative care is the care of patients with a life-limiting illness and through this care, it aims to control pain, alleviate symptoms and enable the patient to have the best possible quality of life.
There is a range of care and services available to people who are affected by life-limiting illness, and in support of their family. These include specialist care provided at home, at the hospice or in hospital, counselling and supportive care, as well as complementary therapies.
Education and training is also provided to health and social care professionals who may be caring for those with a life-limiting illness.
More detailed information is available under our sections for patients and their families/carers.
Patients, carers and family members are referred to North Devon Hospice by a healthcare professional, commonly their GP/Consultant or a District Nurse.
If you would like to be referred to us, at whatever stage of your journey, please speak to your GP.
We have a medical team based in our Bedded Unit at Deer Park, where they provide 24-hour care to people at the end of life and treatments for people needing symptom management.
There is a Consultant, Doctors and Nurses, Medical Officers and Healthcare Assistants. The hospice medical team works closely with the primary health care teams and local GP practices to ensure care is in the best interests of our patients.
Coping with a life-limiting illness can be a deeply stressful experience for the whole family. We offer support to patients, their families and carers, both during the illness and following their bereavement.
There is a variety of support available, including one-to-one counselling, group sessions, self-help techniques, complementary therapies and specialist counselling for children.
For many of our patients it is really important to them to stay at home, wherever possible. Our team of hospice nurses work throughout North Devon covering more than 60,000 miles a year to provide care and support to patients at home or in the place of their choice.
We also have a Hospice to Home services which provides support for patients and carers throughout the night, when symptoms can become more worrying.
There is financial support available and this is dependent on personal circumstances. Our nurses often advise our patients and their families on the financial support and assistance that could be available to them, and they work with other agencies to ensure people are receiving the right advice and information.
Every year we produce two newsletters and a variety of reports, all of which are stored here for you to access. Check out our Annual Reviews, Statement of Purpose, General Leaflet, Certificate of Registration and more...
Each Spring and Autumn we publish a newsletter. Over the last few years we've managed to reduce our newsletter costs significantly and this has been helped by sending them electronically where possible. In the future we hope to send a large proportion of our newsletters out via email. If you would like to receive your newsletter in this way, please email us.
Each financial year we produce an Annual Review, which looks at what has been achieved during those 12 months, how funds have been raised and how they have been spent. It is a great way to show our supporters what a difference their efforts make, and to demonstrate what care and support is available to local people.
We also produce an annual Quality Account, which is a more in-depth look at the care that has been provided during that financial year. It breaks down the statistics to show how many people accessed our various services and demonstrates what an impact our hospice has made in the community. This is aimed at giving our health care partners a greater understanding of how much care we offer, and the various services available.
Read our latest leaflet detailing all the care and support we offer to patients and families. It is a great insight into the services on offer and the many ways in which you can access our help.
This document states exactly what the aims of the hospice are, according to our charitable status.
This is our Certificate of Registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) the healthcare regulatory body.
Home is where the heart is. Wherever you call home, that’s where we will be, making you comfortable and helping you live life to the fullest. Whether you need regular drop-ins or round-the-clock care, symptom relief or a hand to hold, we will help you make the most of every moment in your home.
Your room, your food, your care…your way. A stay on the bedded unit is all about you. It’s a home from home where we can help with your symptoms and create magical memories with you. If you choose to stay with us, we are here for you round-the-clock, to give you the dignity and comfort you deserve.
Here are some of the many faces you may get to see in and around the hospice.
01271 344248
