On Wednesday 15th April staff from LOROS Hospice are heading to Westminster as part of Hospice UK’s Day of Action.
LOROS CEO Camilla Barrow and LOROS nurse Lisa Holford will be joined by representatives of 23 hospices across England to hand deliver a letter to the Prime Minister calling for fairer funding for specialist palliative care.
It comes at a crucial time for hospices, with 75% reporting that they are running a deficit this year, including LOROS, and with 380 beds across England’s hospices currently out of use, according to Hospice UK. All 23 hospices visiting Downing Street have been forced to make cuts to patient services in the past year.
LOROS Hospice is all too aware of the fragility of hospice funding, having been compelled to reduce many of its services last summer. More recently, it has managed to reopen some of the beds it closed, but seven out of a total of 31 remain out of use as well as reductions to its day hospice, physiotherapy, counselling and more.
Camilla said: “Last year we faced a £2million deficit which forced us to cut provision for patients and their families. The brutal reality of these cuts is that people are waiting longer for our care. People at the end of their lives do not have time to wait.
“We could be doing so much more. Instead we’re doing less and our colleagues in the NHS are put under more pressure whilst patients are dying in settings often inappropriate to their needs.
“Hospices like ours provide essential, specialist palliative care, and funding it fairly is vital. I hope the Prime Minister is listening.”
Hospices are calling for a four point plan which will provide the sector with the financial stability it requires:
· Full funding of specialist palliative care provided by hospices.
· Proper NHS contracts for hospices.
· Funding to cover the cost of NHS pay rises for hospice staff.
· National accountability for equitable provision of palliative care, wherever you live.
Toby Porter CEO of Hospice UK, said: “Hospice care services across the UK are under pressure like never before. Nearly six in ten hospices have already made or are considering cuts to their frontline services.
“Desperately needed hospice beds are shut as hospices can’t afford to staff them, and specialist community visits in people’s homes are decreasing when they should be going up. This all pushes more pressure back on to an already overloaded system.
“We’re bringing hospices who have already made cuts to Westminster to remind the government that the people needing hospice care can’t wait. We must act now to prevent further cuts to the care that people need at the end of their lives.
“We’re calling on the government to take urgent action by agreeing to implement Hospice UK's four-point plan for fair hospice funding, including fully resourcing the specialist palliative care we deliver.
“The Government can secure a first major step towards this by committing £112.5 million in additional recurring revenue funding. This would prevent more hospices having to make devastating cuts and allow them to continue delivering the vital care that patients and families rely on.”
