Hospice patients won't have to put up with building work while the place is expanded – they'll be seen at a hotel just down the road.

Best Western Manor Hotel in Gravesend will act as a temporary spot for support services for ellenor hospice, which is not far away in Northfleet.

The adult hospice in Coldharbour Road, Gravesend, is undergoing essential building work over the next 12 months to expand the existing building to provide a new wellbeing centre.

The renovation will, they say, greatly improve accessibility and improve quality of life for patients.

However, it means some outpatient and day therapy services – such as physiotherapy, complementary therapy and counselling – will not being able to take place at the Coldharbour Road site for at least a year.

The ellenor hospice service is a specialist palliative care provider for adults and children in Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley, and children only across Bexley.

Andrew Lowden, ellenor’s head of wellbeing, said: "Rather than closing down essential services to our patients who rely on ellenor, in a special partnership with Best Western Manor Hotel we will be decanting our wellbeing staff and services to Manor Hotel in Hever Court Road, Gravesend, for the duration of the construction period, which is in close proximity to ellenor.

"In acting as a temporary location for an ancillary support service, Manor Hotel will allow ellenor to deliver continuity of care and support to hospice service users – local people living with life-limiting conditions, such as cancer, heart failure, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, and motor neurone disease – and their families during this time.

"This partnership with The Manor Hotel is really important to us; we have reached an agreement with The Manor that will allow us to continue delivering the best possible care and support to families across Kent that need us."

Nick Wilde, managing director at Best Western Manor Hotel, said: "We have always been a big part of our local community and so when we heard about how we might be able to support ellenor’s staff, families, and patients we were only happy to help.

"We have converted some of our unused space and meeting rooms to better suit the needs of the ellenor team and my family and I look forward to welcoming them, as well as our regular guests, to the Manor Hotel in the coming weeks and working together to help them continue to provide the care they usually would."