The Government has just announced a new £100m funding boost for hospices to help improve the quality of end-of-life care. £100m will be allocated to adult and children’s hospices, with an additional £26m for children and young people’s hospices. The funds will go towards building refurbishments, outdoor spaces, as well as allowing them to provide ‘the best possible care’, said Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock.
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‘The £100 million capital investment that the Government is announcing today will allow hospices to improve their physical and operational environment, enabling them to provide the best possible care to their patients.’
The funds come as part of the Government’s 10-year-plan for the NHS to shift healthcare from out of hospitals into the community, as well as moving from analogue to digital. Part of the funds will be dedicated to upgrading IT systems and equipment, as well as supporting people in their own homes, preventing hospitalisation and relieving pressure on the NHS.
But the increased funding also comes in the wake of hospice leaders raising the alarm over financial pressures, with many warning that they will have to make redundancies and close beds if the situation continues. Only around a third of hospice funding is provided by the NHS, with the rest coming from charitable activities.
‘Hospices not only provide vital care for patients and families, but also relieve pressure on the NHS,’ said CEO of Hospice UK Toby Porter. ‘This funding will allow hospices to continue to reach hundreds of thousands of people every year with high-quality, compassionate care.’
The British Medical Association (BMA) welcomed the extra funding, but called for a longer lasting settlement to cover all the settings in which palliative care is practised.
‘The majority of the investment announced today does not cover day-to-day running costs, such as staffing and other essential outgoings needed to give round the clock care, which is so reliant on donations, rather than public funding,’ said BMA council chair, Professor Philip Banfield.
‘If we are to ensure everyone in the UK receives the end-of-life care they should have a right to expect in a civilised society, there needs to be a holistic, four-nation approach and investment in the whole of the system that provides this most important care in people’s final hours.’