PATIENTS at Sobell House Hospice will get a warmer welcome after a new-look reception at the centre was unveiled.

Hospital leader Dame Fiona Caldicott cut the ribbon this week on the work at the adults’ hospice at Headington’s Churchill Hospital.

Its centrepiece is a beautiful stained glass window designed by by Oxford artist Carrie Anne Funnell, designed to cast a calming glow as people come in.

Sobell House Hospice Charity chief executive Diane Gardner said: “Someone said every time they looked at it they could see something different, they can get lost in it. It offers a bit of relief and relaxation.

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“What we want people to feel when they come in is calm, relaxed, safe and valued.”

The work has enlarged the reception area by removing walls, moving the reception desk and lowering it for wheelchair users.

She added: “The old reception area had space for about six people.

“Now if you walk through the reception you have a choice of about three different types of seating areas. It was a functional area, you felt like you were in a hospital waiting room. Now when you come in you can sit and relax.”

The work was funded by a £310,846 Department of Health grant, part of a £2m handout to hospices. The reception is now “larger and more welcoming” and the reception desk can be immediately seen on entry.

Opening the centre on Wednesday Dame Fiona, chairman of Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The beautiful new reception area at Sobell House provides a restful and welcoming place for patients, family members and staff. This will help everyone who comes to Sobell to cope with whatever faces them.”

The charity funds 60 per cent of the hospice’s £4m-a-year costs, while Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust funds the rest.

Labour Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: “I’m really pleased that Sobell House won this NHS grant to create such a welcoming and restful reception area.”

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