NHS red tape hinders work with hospices
Hospices across England are being hindered and many face additional costs under new NHS structures, it has been claimed.
Officials at charity Help the Hospices have said that arrangements with clinical commissioning groups will cause additional complications.
They believe that commissioning – identifying which services are needed, purchasing them and monitoring how they are delivered – has become more complex.
Staff at Shropshire's Severn Hospice have claimed the new arrangements will bring challenges in the future.
Charity chiefs have made the claims after carrying out a survey among member hospices between March and May about arrangements with clinical commissioning groups for the 2013/14 financial year.
The survey showed that most hospices reported frozen or reduced funding, with almost a fifth saying funding levels had fallen this financial year.
Severn Hospice, which cares for people from across Shropshire, said it had a good relationship with its National Health Service commissioners in both Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.
Norma Ross, appeals director at Severn Hospice, said: "Severn Hospice is fortunate to have developed an excellent relationship with commissioners locally. Sadly, the current financial constraints have necessitated our grants to be frozen, increasing our reliance on voluntary funding.
"The recent changes will bring challenges and we look forward to working closely with those involved in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin in the future while minimising the additional administrative costs."
Hope House Children's Hospice, based at Morda, near Oswestry, said it was not affected as much, as only seven per cent of its funding came from local NHS sources.
Nationally, a quarter of hospices said they were working with four or more statutory commissioners and nearly a fifth of hospices surveyed said they had three or more different forms of agreements with commissioners.
The financial impact of the new commissioning and contracting arrangements on all hospices in England, primarily from new data reporting requirements, is estimated to be at least £3.2 million, the charity said.
On average only a third of hospice costs are met by the NHS – although funding levels vary – and the rest comes from charity.
