Star Comment - 'The situation hospices find themselves in is nothing short of a scandal'
Today we launch a campaign for Christmas, highlighting the fantastic work of our hospices but also the enormous challenges they face.
Yes, we are asking you to dig into your pockets and give a few pounds to a very good cause.
But this isn’t fundamentally a fundraising appeal. This is about raising awareness of the financial plight hospices face as they attempt to plan for the future.
Many people wouldn’t believe hospices are not part of the NHS. They are a little like the RNLI to the emergency services – seen as absolutely essential in every regard until it comes to public funding.
Like the lifeboats, hospices are reliant on public funding in order to survive. And they get support, quite literally, in bucket-loads. The support given by the public is fantastic and worth many millions a year.
But they also need top-up support from central government. This comes in the form of grants and tends to be short term. It means hospices have to get their begging bowl out at regular intervals and hope the financial support they are given for the next year or so is sufficient.
Many are already in financial peril because of that uncertainty. Ministers have promised some kind of action soon. What is needed is a firm commitment of adequate funding for the next five years at least, to provide stability and certainty for hospices and those they care for.
The Government should also make hospices exempt from National Insurance changes that are costing them hundreds of thousands of pounds a year extra. It is incredible that Chancellor Rachel Reeves thinks it acceptable to load a tax on to charitable organisations that are so vital to our society – and that remove a huge burden from the NHS.
Hospice UK, which represents all hospices across the country, says the situation its members find themselves in is nothing short of a scandal.
It rightly says hospices should not be viewed as a “nice-to-have” service and has demanded the Government intervene to prevent further service cutbacks.
Hospice UK has called on the Department of Health and Social Care to provide £110 million in urgent funding for England’s hospices to prevent further cuts.
Ministers say they are listening, but we will wait to see what action is taken.
The issue of palliative care ever more important as our nation moves towards an assisted dying law. People should have the right to die without pain and with caring professionals around them. And our hospices are key to that.
