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Hospice plan facing rejection
Oakhaven Hospice.
Oakhaven Hospice.

A MULTI-million-pound plan to expand a Hampshire hospice and help it meet growing demand is likely to be rejected this week.

Oakhaven Hospice, Lymington, wants to carry out a range of improvements, including building a new in-patient unit and an education centre.

The £2.5m scheme has the backing of Lymington Town Council and has also resulted in 38 letters of support from the local community.

However members of New Forest District Council are being recommended to refuse the application.

A report to Wednesday's meeting of the planning committee says the site is green belt land, where only limited expansion is allowed.

Oakhaven's proposals would increase the amount of floorspace at the hospice by more than 400 square metres.

The report says: "The applicants have indicated that the existing in-patient unit is run at capacity and that bed levels do not allow for any growth in demand.

"They consider that additional in-patient provision would ensure that Oakhaven is able to meet the growing demands of palliative care provision.

"The applicants have also sought to justify the proposed new education centre.

"They indicate that education is an integral part of the holistic approach of hospices and have pointed to a detailed evaluation which showed that nearly 70 per cent of health care professionals thought further training in palliative care was important."

The report says the case for an education centre at the hospice is "less convincing" than the one for extra in-patient provision.

An Oakhaven spokesman said: "We are naturally disappointed that our case for this much needed aspect of our project is being questioned."

8:03am Monday 12th May 2008

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Posted by: Julian Le Good, Hedge End on 9:46am Mon 12 May 08
Difficult to think of a more compelling application for which to grant planning consent; but as e4ver, it's the old "trees/badgers/bunni

es are more important than people" argument. You can only hope that your elected council show more compassion than your planning officers. All the best
Posted by: v., Southampton on 3:54pm Mon 12 May 08
If you are in a hospice situation holistic care has already failed the whole poi8nt is to make patients as comfortable as possible as nothing further is an option in the way of cure.So the need for holistic education does seem a little late!!!
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