We are grateful to receive £258,000 from the Government’s hospice funding allocation. However, this funding cannot be used for direct patient care costs, and it does not address the urgent need for sustainable funding for hospice care.
Please read our Chief Executive Iain Cameron’s response below:
We remain very grateful to the Government for the funding it has allocated for hospices, and the announcement, on Sunday 20 July, that the remaining £75 million has now been released, is very welcome. This funding is ringfenced for major upgrades that hospices, like St. Michael’s, have been unable to consider previously, as our funding priority is our essential daily running costs.
Whilst we are very thankful for this funding, it sadly does not relieve the ongoing pressure being felt by hospices across the UK. It is crucial to ensure that hospices have a sustainable funding model that addresses both capital and operational costs to secure the future of these vital services. Significant upgrades are very beneficial, but they do not help secure sustainable and ongoing funding to protect the future of hospices like St. Michael’s.
Despite this cash injection, we remain heavily reliant on our local community to donate or purchase from our shops to fund our specialist and vital end-of-life care. Currently, we receive only 22% of our funding from the NHS, and we need to raise an additional £14,500 each day to keep our services running.
However, the Government funding does allow us to focus on capital investments. We will be using the £258,000 allocated to St. Michael’s to upgrade our inpatient facilities, improve parking at the Hospice, and develop a new website.
We hope that this funding is a step closer to increased NHS funding to alleviate the current funding crisis, which has led to services being cut and posts being made redundant in many hospices across the UK.
We look forward to ongoing discussions and negotiations with our colleagues at Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, who have already been so understanding and supportive, and with the Government, for a realistic and permanent solution to ensure that our expert end-of-life care can be accessed and fully funded for everyone who requires it.