A MERGER plan to unite two Gwent hospice organisations was scrapped after complications, the Argus has learned.

St Anne's Hospice and St David's Foundation, which offers "hospice-at-home" services, providing vital support for people with life-threatening illnesses, will now remain separate.

Firstly, it was discovered that the hospice, run by the Roman Catholic Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy, was prohibited from amalgamation.

Then the religious order withdrew from another approach to unify the two organisations.

The failure to merge is likely to cause huge disappointment to those who saw the move as a major step forward for the hospice movement in Gwent.

Last May, the two highly-regarded organisations revealed their intention to combine and said patients would benefit from the move.

In a statement, Vicki Morrey, chief executive of St David's, said following the announcement of their intention to merge it was discovered that St Anne's Hospice was not a separately registered charity or company.

"It is managed by a religious order whose memorandum and articles of association prohibit mergers with non-Roman Catholic organisations.

"We have, therefore, been concentrating our efforts on finding a way to facilitate a way of becoming one united entity."

Following legal advice, it was believed a lease arrangement was the only option available.

"As the first stage in this process, it was agreed to enter into a management agreement to enable progress in joint strategic planning and operational management," said Mrs Morrey.

"Unfortunately, the order subsequently withdrew from this agreement and as such it is no longer possible to proceed with the merger plans."

St Anne's Hospice offers free specialist care to patients with a life-threatening illness from all denominations and cultures.

It currently has eight beds based on the site of what was the maternity ward of St Joseph's Hospital.

Mrs Morrey said the order was committed to exploring options for the future relocation of the hospice into a new building and was keen to work together to achieve this long-term vision.

"St David's Foundation Hospice Care will play a full part in the exploration and feasibility of this."

Sister Bernadette Marie, chief executive of St Anne's, did not want to comment.