A specialist nurse has been appointed to lead a pioneering end-of-life care service in the Sid Valley, set to start in the new year.

Mary Ashby has been appointed as the manager of the new Sidmouth Hospice at Home Specialist Nursing Team, a part of Sidmouth Hospiscare and RD&E Sidmouth.

The team will provide tailored 24/7 end-of-life care and support for all patients in the Sid Valley and their families.

The specialist nurses will work alongside the other RD&E community services, providing specialist symptom control, psychological and emotional support, and hands on nursing to enable people to be comfortable in their own homes at the end-of-life and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.

Mary said: "My career in hospice nursing began over 25 years ago, working both on the in-patient wards and in the community services.

"As a student nurse, care of the dying had felt a special privilege, reflecting on the personal experiences of my Mother's death.

"I feel honoured to be appointed as nurse manager of the new Sidmouth Hospice at Home Team, to be leading this pioneering, specialist end of life care service that is patient-centred and seamlessly part of our local community services".

Gill Ryall, CEO Sidmouth Hospiscare, added: "This new nursing team forms the core of the new Integrated Model of Care that we are introducing to meet the increasing needs of people in the Sid Valley with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

"We are so grateful to the people in our community for providing the funding and support that is enabling us to commission and fund this service and are looking forward to it being operational in the new year."

Richard Anderson, health and social care community services manager at Sidmouth Axminster and Seaton, added: "Mary is a very experienced palliative care nurse and she has the most caring, gentle nature as well as being an inspiring leader.

"We are very grateful to have recruited her and we warmly welcome her into our team."

RD&E are already in the process of appointing a second nurse to the team, to work alongside Mary to get the service up and running as soon as possible, are currently advertising for the other Specialist nurses on NHS jobs, and will soon be advertising for Assistant Practitioner posts.

Visit the Sidmouth Hospiscare website HERE.