History

Countess Mountbatten House (CMH) opened in 1977, under the medical directorship of Dr. Richard Hillier. It was the second NHS palliative care hospice in the country.

Prior to this, all hospital palliative care was provided in acute or community hospitals, and only 20% of patients died at home.

Dr Peter Bodkin, Wessex Radiotherapy Centre director, led a project between the then Wessex Regional Health Authority and the Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund, to build Countess Mountbatten House.

Their vision was to create specialist palliative care beds, which were not just bricks and mortar, but a centre which would bring modern palliative care into hospitals and patients' homes. CMH was unique in offering an integrated service of beds, community care and support for hospital staff, under one umbrella.

Education of non-specialist staff by the CMH team was fundamental to the care of patients and families for both undergraduates and postgraduates of all disciplines. In addition, trained volunteers would bring attitudes and strengths to complement those of the salaried staff. This vision enabled CMH to develop a string of 'firsts' in palliative care in the UK.

CMH remains an integral part of Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust Cancer Care Directorate, with the departments of clinical oncology, medical oncology and haematology. These departments will shortly be relocated to Southampton General Hospital, from the Royal South Hants Hospital, but Countess Mountbatten House will remain at West End, Southampton, where it has recently been redeveloped.

This new development consists of a complete rebuild of 25 beds, bringing the service up to the standards of the 21st century. The outpatient area has been turned into a Day Care Centre, with facilities for physiotherapy, and the old inpatient building is now an Education and Research Centre, with close links with the University of Southampton's schools of medicine and nursing.

CMH continues to take only patients with advancing cancer. It does not take patients with non cancerous conditions, simply because it does not have the resources to extend actively into this area. The only part of the service which sees patients with non cancer, is the Hospital Palliative Care Team (based at Southampton General Hospital), with around eight percent of their patients, having non malignant disease.