DYING patients who want to spend their final days in their own homes are being helped by a voluntary project.

The hospice at home scheme, which was launched in Cumbernauld in January, is to be extended across North Lanarkshire.

Specialist community-based palliative nurses, from St Andrew's and Strathcarron Hospices, work closely with around 30 specially trained befriending volunteers, recruited by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire.

The team work to support district nurses, Macmillan nurses and GPs.

Geoff Sage, St Andrew's Hospice chief executive, said: "Patients want to be in their own homes and by combining the expertise and compassion of the hospice nurses and volunteers, we are committed to making that."