Hospice leaders call for help to stop bed closures

Hospice leaders have called for action to stop bed closures, despite a recent cash boost.

The government announced a £100m hospice grant in December which can only be spent on capital infrastructure such as fixtures and buildings.

However, hospice bosses have said the money is not enough to secure their service long term.

Martin Edwards, chief executive of Julia's House based in Devizes, Wiltshire, said: "If we really want to stop the bed closures that have been happening all over the country, we need a long term solution over the next 15 months."

"We're going to have some hard choices ahead, 90% of our costs are people costs and I'm not sure [the cash injection] will stop the process of cutting of services that hospices have had to face," he added.

The hospice currently has a £900,000 deficit but has managed to avoid closing beds so far.

Jeremy Lune, chief executive of Prospect Hospice which provides end-of-life care services in Swindon, Marlborough and north Wiltshire, echoed Mr Edwards' comments.

He told BBC Radio Wiltshire that the cash injection was "a very generous amount of money" and a "step in the right direction", adding that the hospice required £40,000 for a new boiler and further funds to develop the kitchen, which is on its "last legs".

But he said that it was "£100m for more than 200 hospices, who are facing a collective deficit of £110m".

When asked what he would have done with the money if he had complete freedom, he said the hospice would have spent it on more clinical colleagues rather than infrastructure.

Hospice budgets are being further stretched by the government's decision to increase National Insurance contributions from April.

The rise from 13.8% to 15% leaves Julia's House with an extra £242,000 to find, in addition to an already existing £1m budget deficit, although Mr Edwards believes the new money "broadly compensates" for the increase.

In a new statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said that it had "recently announced the largest investment in hospices in a generation".

"This £100m fund will improve facilities and allow hospices to focus their attention and wider resources on providing the best care to patients.

"Ministers continue to work with partners to make the sector sustainable in the long term, including via our 10 Year Health Plan."

Both Mr Lune and Mr Edwards urged the local community to continue supporting their respective hospices, despite the new money.

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