A FUNDING crisis at hospices nationwide is being felt here in south Warwickshire.
A damning National Audit Office report revealed nearly two-thirds of independent hospices in England reported a deficit in 2023-24. Overall expenditure was £78 million more than income generated.
As a result, services have been slashed and hospices forced to cut the number of beds available for dying people and those with life-limiting conditions. At the end of 2024, about 300 inpatient beds were “deregistered or withdrawn from operation”, the NAO report found.
Hospices have been forced to cut back on staff, the NAO added, despite the fact that demand for palliative care was increasing.
Ruth Freeman, CEO at The Myton Hospices which offers end of life care to residents of Coventry and Warwickshire, said they were unable to keep all their inpatient beds open and financially were reliant on the local community for their support.
She explained: “At The Myton Hospices, we receive only 17 per cent of our funding from the NHS and must raise £12.7 million this year to continue providing our services free of charge to thousands of patients and families across Coventry and Warwickshire – that’s over £1 million every month.
“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of our local community, whose support means we have not yet faced the heart-breaking decision to close services. However, while we fight to protect our existing services, we also want to reach more people who so desperately need and deserve our care. We have 36 inpatient beds, but can currently only afford to keep 25 open. Tragically, this means we have a waiting list – and too many patients die before they are able to access a hospice bed.”
Tracey Sheridan, CEO at The Shakespeare Hospice, covering south Warwickshire, also emphasised their reliance on community support amid a rising demand for their services.
She continued: “While the recent cash injection from central government is a welcome boost to help us upgrade our facilities, this funding was tightly restricted and cannot be used to meet our significantly rising operational costs – including staffing, service development, and the increased cost of living.
“We still face a substantial gap in funding. The Shakespeare Hospice must raise £3 million every year to continue providing care to those who need it most. Only 12 per cent of our funding comes from the NHS, meaning we rely on donations and public support to raise the remaining 88 per cent.”
