Come 2025, St Luke’s Hospice will no longer run an in-patient service at its Kenilworth facility.

St Luke's Combined Hospices, a non-profit organisation, announced that it will close its service on Tuesday December 31 to focus on enhancing community and home-based palliative care.

Michelle Petersen-Damon, head of department for palliative care at St Luke's explained that the decision was based on “strengthening the community home-based care component” as they care for more than 600 patients in the community on any given day with an average of about three patients accessing the in-patient unit.

St Luke’s provides specialised end-of-life medical and nursing care, known as palliative care, to people with terminal illnesses.

The admission of patients was reduced during December, with the last patient having been discharged last Wednesday, December 18.

Michelle Petersen-Damon, head of department for palliative care at St Luke's, said the last patient was discharged on Wednesday December 18. Picture: Supplied

Their day hospice programme will also be strengthened, said Ms Petersen-Damon, enabling their interdisciplinary team to be available to, and offer the same level of care to a greater cohort of patients.

“This also gives the patients the opportunity to die at home with the comfort and support of our team and the family. It’s definitely not a primary financial decision but rather to continue with a more strengthened community care service,” she said.

St Luke’s render their services at no cost unless the patient has medical aid funds that make provision for the care by their hospice.

The five staff in their in-patient unit who have been directly affected have been re-absorbed into their community-based home-care work, Ms Petersen-Damon added.

“Those who cannot be accommodated - the carers with palliative care skills - our CEO has reached out to other NGOs in the broader Western Cape where there was a favourable response for the CVs to be forwarded should there be vacancies – however the normal recruitment process will follow – they will be favourably considered,” she said.

The in-patient unit facility will be opened to anyone in the community who would want to utilise it, such as a frail care facility, or private hospital facility based on its design. It could also be repurposed for corporates as an office facility – it’s a space owned by St Luke's and has its own entrance and parking space that can easily be separated from their admin or office section, she said.

Ms Petersen-Damon said if there is a requirement for any other admission to an in-patient facility, the Department of Health supported facilities include Living Hope Community Health Centre, Abundant Life Palliative Care, Aquarius Health care NPC, Brackengate Intermediate Care Facility, Baphumelele, to name a few.

Marsha Bothma

St Luke’s Hospice closes Kenilworth in-patient unit