St Peter's Hospice will be moving some of its services to Whitchurch Health Centre so that terminally ill patients in south Bristol can still access support from the charity.

The Knowle hospice will close its doors to all patients by the end of the year, but St Peter's doctors and nurses will continue to offer advice and care from the Whitchurch clinic, the charity announced yesterday.

They will offer pain relief and symptom control from November 1 as part of a six-month trial and if it proves popular with patients, St Peter's Hospice could extend the service to other parts of the city.

The closure of the Knowle hospice was announced in July after managers decided they could not afford the cost of continually patching up the 112-year-old building.

Campaigners have fought the closure of the site that had become the spiritual home of St Peter's Hospice.

The charity will continue to run its purpose-built site in Brentry, and its community team will be based in south Bristol.

St Peter's Hospice managers have been working with NHS Bristol to provide the additional services from Whitchurch Health Centre.

They will provide consultations for patients on their caseload once a fortnight and will also be supporting patients and families through their Family Liaison and Grief Service.

Chief executive Sandie Foxall-Smith said that 85 per cent of care provided by the charity is based in the community.

She said: "We will continue to provide our expert medical skills in the area of pain management and relief in a new, easily accessible environment.

"After evaluation we would endeavour to extend this service to other parts of Bristol."

Director of commissioning at NHS Bristol, Helen England, said that the local health service has been working with St Peter's Hospice to help them provide services.

She said: "We have agreed a pilot scheme in partnership with St Peter's to provide services from Whitchurch Health Centre and we will involve local people in evaluating the effectiveness of this scheme to inform future decisions."