COMPLEMENTARY therapies may soon be made available to patients with serious illnesses in their own homes, if funding can be found for a new service.

St Teresa's Hospice, in Darlington, offers massage, aromatherapy and acupuncture, but patients can miss out if they are too ill to travel in.

Hospice staff said that this was often a problem for patients with cancer and other serious diseases such as motor neurone disease, end-stage multiple sclerosis, renal failure and coronary heart disease, where patients are too debilitated to be taken to the hospice.

But officials are trying to secure funding for a domiciliary service, which would see therapists visit people in their homes, to help both patients and their carers.

Nurse manager Elaine Isham said: "Our district nurses thought this would be beneficial to patients when they are feeling too unwell to get to the hospice."

Hospice medical director, Dr Trevor Birnie, said: "There is strong evidence now that complementary therapies help patients relax and reduce anxiety.

"They are an effective way of supporting patients who are undergoing conventional therapies and are a way of managing symptoms."