Last week marked Hospice Care Week in Parliament, during which I attended an event hosted by Hospice UK, generously supported by St Christopher’s Hospice. At the event I heard directly from hospice sector workers about the significant challenges they currently face, and about the crucial role charitable support plays in keeping local hospices across the country operational.
It is important we recognise the difficulties that the hospice sector has endured in recent years, particularly due to the rising cost of living. Hospices provide invaluable, compassionate end-of-life care within our local communities, and I would like to pay tribute to their work.
It is striking that only one-third of hospice funding comes from the Government, leaving hospices heavily reliant on charitable donations to maintain their services – services that many families come to rely on. Whilst it is disheartening to see that around one-fifth of hospices have either cut services in the last year or are facing the prospect of doing so, it is also encouraging to witness the strong support hospices receive from individuals and local communities up and down the country.
We are lucky that our constituency has the benefit of two fantastic hospice groups, The Myton Hospices and The Shakespeare Hospice. In September I met the Chief Executive Officer of Myton. She shared with me her perspective on the state of hospice funding in the region. Despite not being part of the NHS, she explained that hospices in the UK deliver around two-thirds of local palliative care. This makes it easy for the public to assume that hospices are part of the NHS’s palliative care framework, especially as patients are typically transferred from hospitals. However, this is not the case.
Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are responsible for allocating the amount of funding that hospices receive. Through the Health and Care Act 2022, ICBs have a wider duty to commission palliative and end of life care services, and it is important that they give sufficient priority to meet the needs of their local populations. The new Government has indicated that it will be reviewing the next steps for hospices in the coming months.
From my discussions with Myton and others, it is clear that, although local fundraising has value on establishing strong links between hospices and the areas they serve, we must revisit the current funding model to ensure that hospices receive the recognition they deserve, both politically and financially, for the immense relief they provide to the NHS.
