Sir Michael Sobell House was built as the result of a personal donation from Sir Michael Sobell, a public appeal and a contribution from the Department of Health. It opened in 1976 and is named after its benefactor.

The unit opened with 12 beds and was the second palliative care unit to be built in conjunction with the National Society for Cancer Relief (now called Macmillan Cancer Relief).

It is a comprehensive specialist palliative care service jointly funded by Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust and charitable contributions, a large proportion of which are raised by Sobell House Hospice Charity. Sobell House is also a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Palliative Care.

After the recent completion of new building works in 2003, the service is now housed in a light and airy, purpose built building with 20 beds in the Inpatient Unit and 15 places a day in the Day Hospice.

Complementary therapies and the offices of the several teams that make up the service are housed in the refurbished building and a large garden is being developed on the site of the old inpatient unit.

The offices of Sobell House Hospice Charity are in the same building. Sobell Study Centre, added in 1987, has been modernised and the range of courses updated.