A FIVE-MILLION POUND hospice which provides "first-class care" is celebrating the first year since it was officially opened.

The Welsh Government invested millions of pounds in the 15-bed St David’s Hospice Care facility at Blackett Avenue, Malpas, to expand the in-patient palliative care service for terminally ill patients and their families.

And a year on since it opened, the health secretary Vaughan Gething AM said the site is recognised as an “example of first-class care”.

He said: “The investment from the Welsh Government has enabled the hospice team to deliver patient and family-led services in a new, state-of-the-art facility.

“The team at St David’s Hospice Care has developed a palliative care model which is universally recognised as an example of first-class care. Now that the new building is complete and open the charity will be able to support more people who need their help at the end of their lives.”

Emma Saysell, who is the chief executive of St. David’s Hospice Care, described the opening last year as “landmark day”.

She said: “The official opening of the fabulous new hospice a year ago was a landmark day for hospice care in Wales. It marked the opening of what is the first purpose-built, independent voluntary sector in-patient hospice in Wales this century.

“The hospice is everything that we’d hope for and more. It has delivered on all levels. We’re all so very pleased with what has been achieved and to know that our patients and their families are so happy with the facilities and the care.”

Ms Saysell also revealed she had been inundated with messages of support since the hospice admitted its first patients

She said: “I’ve had comments like: ‘I and my family had never had any experience of a hospice and really didn’t know what to expect. We were completely amazed by everything at the St David’s Hospice.'"

The hospice, which is linked to the existing day hospice by a corridor, replaced the 10 bedded St Anne’s hospice unit. It is run by St David’s Hospice Care (SDHC), working in partnership with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and Newport City Council.