A LONG-TERM home is being sought within St Mary's Hospital for the highly-respected Wellow ward, which provides end of life care to patients.

The ward is moving this week, and will temporarily be housed within the stroke ward.

There have been rumours widely circulated on social media that the ward is closing, but the IW NHS Trust says it is merely moving, and the same staff will be retained.

The current three end-of-life care beds will temporarily relocate into three individual rooms in the stroke ward later this week.

There will be an additional private relatives' room, and the area will be staffed by the same Wellow team.

A spokesperson said earlier this week: “The care provided on Wellow Unit is among the best in the NHS and we understand how much it means to our colleagues, patients, and their loved ones.

“We are responding to significant, longstanding pressure in the wider hospital and working to use the limited space we have available as efficiently as possible.

“This means that Wellow will be moved temporarily to another part of St Mary's Hospital in the coming days while essential building works are carried out and a long-term home for this excellent service is found."

A spokesperson from Healthwatch IW posted on Facebook: "We contacted the IW NHS Trust following concerns raised by people about the future of Wellow ward.

"We were told that the ward will not be closing, it will be moved temporarily to another area of the hospital, but the same number of beds will be provided for people needing end of life care.

"There will still be a separate room available for family members to use.

"The services provided by staff on the ward are recognised and valued by the trust and they will be announcing the new home for Wellow ward within St Mary's Hospital, within the coming weeks.

"We will be working closely with the trust on this and will share any updates as and when we receive them."

Nurse-led Wellow ward opened with three beds in February 2020, initially for a 12 week pilot.