Hospice sector at risk without long-term funding settlement, MPs warn

By Martina Bet, Reporter15th June 2023News EnglandEnd Of Life Care, Government / Politics, Hospices, News England, Older People, Palliative Care

The hospice sector is at risk unless the Government and the NHS provide a long-term funding settlement, ministers have been warned.

Conservative MP Paul Holmes opened a debate in Westminster Hall on the support for hospice services as he shared his personal experience with bereavement and palliative care, paying tribute to his office manager who died recently.

Mr Holmes said he will always be grateful to Mountbatten hospice in his constituency, which “cared for her at the end of her life” and revealed he would soon be doing a “charity skydive” to raise money for it.

The MP for Eastleigh said “hospices are desperate for more support from the Government” as they battle with workforce shortages and the soaring price of energy and argued “some sort of long-term funding settlement for hospices would be in the interests of all concerned”.

Most hospices were established from charitable and philanthropic donations and are primarily charity-funded and independently run. However, they receive some statutory funding from the NHS and the Government.

NHS commissioning of palliative and end-of-life care, including hospices, is mostly the responsibility of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).

Tory MP for Darlington Peter Gibson said UK hospices are budgeting for “a deficit of £186 million this year”, insisting ICBs “must step up to the plate”.

Similar calls were made by shadow health minister Liz Kendall who said most hospices have seen a 10% increase in their costs, but only a 1% increase in NHS funding from ICBs, or in some cases no rise at all.

Mr Holmes told Westminster Hall: “It is a fact of life that we all experience a bereavement at some point, and some of my colleagues know that we recently had the very sad task of saying goodbye to my office manager, Sue Hall.”

After paying tribute to Mountbatten hospice, he added: “Sue’s journey had a profound impact on me as I spent time with her in the hospice learning about the work that it does and the struggles it faces.

“In a moment of weakness, her son-in-law Miles Rogers — a good friend of mine — and I agreed to do a charity skydive for Mountbatten hospice on June 24.”

Urging the Government to support the hospice sector, the Eastleigh MP added: “It is important to highlight the fact that the sustainability of the hospice sector continues to be tested due to the cost-of-living crisis.

“Some sort of long-term funding settlement for hospices would be in the interests of all concerned because 160,000 more people each year are expected to require palliative care by the end of 2040. Having sufficient staff and volunteer resourcing in the specialist palliative care field is essential.

“An ideal outcome would be the Government and the NHS working with the hospice sector to provide an ongoing financial settlement, with regular contractual reviews to ensure that the support that hospices receive is at least the minimum they require to keep services running.

“That should be directed to cover both staffing and energy cost rises.”

Also voicing concerns for the sector, Mr Gibson said: “UK hospices are budgeting for a deficit of £186 million this year.

“Our integrated care boards must step up to the plate, commissioning and paying for the hospice care that their community needs and, at the same time, safeguarding these institutions that are so integral to our communities, saving the NHS money and reducing bed blocking.

“It really has the potential to be a win-win situation. I implore the minister to do everything in her power to get this sorted, once and for all.”

Labour frontbencher Ms Kendall acknowledged the “huge financial pressures on hospices”, adding: “As Sue Ryder says, most hospices have seen a 10% increase in their costs, but only a 1% increase, and in some cases no increase at all, in NHS funding from integrated care boards, creating a perfect storm.

“ICBs have a statutory requirement to meet palliative care and end-of-life needs of their populations, but where is the funding?

“I hope the minister will say whether the Government will institute the review because, without that, we will not have security for the future.”

Responding to the debate, health minister Helen Whately said that last year NHS England released £1.5 billion of extra funding to integrated care boards, noting that they have been the bodies “responsible for distributing that funding according to local need, including to palliative and end-of-life care providers in our communities, whether they are NHS organisations or hospices”.

After being told by Mr Gibson that “it is simply not the case that every ICB across the country is passing the right amount of money to the hospices from which it commissions services”, Ms Whately said: “I commit to continuing to dig into getting visibility on the extent to which extra funding is going through to hospices.

“Of course, there is a balance to be struck when giving integrated care boards the freedom to do what we want them to do, which is to understand fully the needs for care in their populations, and make good decisions about how they fund care for their populations.”