Cautious welcome for hospice funding boost

The government's £100m funding package for end-of-life care in England has been given a cautious welcome by a hospice boss.

The announcement includes a further £26m for children's hospices, however Gareth Pierce, chief executive of Forget Me Not Children's Hospice in Huddersfield, said while welcome a longer-term solution was still needed.

The hospice launched a public appeal after revealing a £1m funding gap could lead to 16 staff losing their jobs and a reduction in services at the beginning of December.

The government has said it was the "biggest investment in a generation", but Mr Pierce said it did not change their need to continue raising funds.

The funding comes after hospice leaders warned they were having to close beds due to increasing financial pressures.

Forget Me Not Children's Hospice provides services such as short breaks, respite care and end-of-life symptom management and a range of therapies for both children and their families.

It gets about 10% of its annual income - equating to just over £500,000 - from statutory funding.

With annual running costs of £6m, the remainder has to come from fundraising appeals and donations.

Mr Pierce said they wanted to protect "those vital services that the families so desperately need", but warned that if longer-term support did not come through then they would need to look at reducing costs.

He also warned they faced a "perfect storm" of the uncertainty of future statutory funding, "a really difficult income climate" and rising costs.

Mr Pierce said it was "a huge step forward that the government has listened to the concerns of not just children's hospices but adult hospices as well".

But he said he wanted to know when discussions about longer-term funding would take place, warning that wage costs and other core costs had continued to rise by about £500,000 a year.

"That has just made it incredibly difficult for us to keep raising the same amount of money just to keep the doors open," he said.

The hospice's appeal has also been backed by the father of a terminally ill boy, who has pleaded with the government to give further support to them.

Steve Lord, whose 10-year-old son Ethan has a life-limiting brain condition, said the prospect of no longer having the support of the hospice was "frightening".

Around 170 hospices provide end-of-life care for adults and around 40 provide hospice care for children and young people in England, with some hospices providing care for both.

The government said the funding was "the biggest investment in a generation" and would go towards improving buildings, equipment and accommodation.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said hospices provided care and support for patients and families at the "most difficult time".

"It is only right they are given the financial support to provide these services."

Details on the package announced will be shared with the hospice sector in the new year.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.