Wigan hospice chief calls for Government boost amid fears for its future

Jo Carby was speaking after the sector’s national leader said that services were in danger because soaring care costs have been massively outstripping income.

The chief executive of Hospice UK, Toby Porter, said the last year had seen the “worst financial results for the hospice sector in around 20 years”.

Sector leaders have called for the Government to provide more funding, with one saying the most recent increase of 1.2 per cent “is not fair and is not right” when inflation and a “staggering” rise in costs is taken into consideration.

The UK hospice sector is reporting an estimated collective deficit of £77m for the 2023-24 financial year, according to Hospice UK’s quarterly financial benchmarking survey.

The national charity for hospice and end of life care said the shortfall was being driven by staffing costs as charitable hospices struggle to match NHS pay rises, with the majority of hospice expenditure spent on salaries.

And Ms Carby told Wigan Today: “Like so many hospices across the UK, Wigan and Leigh Hospice has a structural deficit as our income has struggled to keep up with the rising costs of running the organisation.

“We know what a valued part of this community Wigan and Leigh Hospice is, providing care and support to local residents when they’re experiencing some of the toughest times of their lives.

“Locally, we know health leaders want to do what they can to help, but this is more than a local issue. We need fundamental change to the way hospices are funded, on a national level, to make sure vital services like ours can continue to provide essential palliative and end of life services.

“The services we offer as a hospice aren’t available anywhere else in the NHS. If they were to be lost, we’d have so many more people confined to hospital or having to go to A&E. Everyone should be entitled to receive the best possible care as they reach the end of their life.

"With the support of our wonderful local community, we do our part to raise the funds to provide these services, we just need the Government to do their part too.”

Every day, Wigan and Leigh Hospice has to raise £12,000 through its charity shops, lottery and fund-raising, just to keep its services going, but this itself has taken a hit as people in the borough tighten their belts.

The Hospice UK survey revealed that payroll costs have surged by 11 per cent, with approximately £130m in additional spending over the full year.

Hospices recruit from the same pool of staff as the NHS, meaning they aim to match health service pay and conditions to “attract and retain skilled staff to care for people at the end of their lives”, the charity said.

Mr Porter said the results of its survey were “unsustainable and extremely worrying”.

He added: “These are the worst financial results for the hospice sector in around 20 years. Many hospices are spending more on their care than they receive in income.

“Costs for hospices will keep rising and without a new model for funding end of life care, the coming years could be devastating for hospice care services, particularly for those in economically challenged areas.

“Many are already considering halting vital services which will have devastating consequences for patients, their families, hospice staff, local communities and the NHS itself.”

Tony Collins, chief executive of Saint Michael’s Hospice in North Yorkshire, said: “With our costs rising at a staggering rate and inflation hitting over eight per cent, to be met with a rise in Government funding of just 1.2 per cent is not fair and is not right.”

Mr Collins added: “Our funding gap alone is half a million pounds, we know hospices up and down the country are experiencing the same funding gap too, and together we must be heard.

“Dignity in dying and high-quality end of life care isn’t a privilege, it’s a right.”

Adult hospices receive on average around one third of their funding from the State, with children’s hospices getting around a fifth.

This means most of the funding for essential hospice services comes from fundraising and charitable donations, Hospice UK said.

Graham Gardiner, chief executive of Ardgowan Hospice in Inverclyde, said it was “deeply disappointing” that Government funding and support for hospice care was no further forward.

He added: “With no increase in support, hospices like ours are forced to shoulder extra costs through relentless fundraising efforts.

“The need for change and increased support from those in power is urgent to ensure that hospices can continue to provide essential care within our communities.

“We can’t allow dying with dignity and compassion to become a luxury that only the rich can afford.”

MPs debated hospice funding in the House of Commons this week during a backbench business debate called by Peter Gibson.

The figures in Hospice UK’s financial benchmarking survey are based on nine months of accounts for the financial year 2023-24 from a sample of 86 hospices.

They are extrapolated to be representative of the entire UK hospice sector, which supports 300,000 people annually.

It costs £18,500 a day to run Wigan and Leigh Hospice – approximately one-third of that has traditionally come from the NHS but the rest must come through fund-raising, including donations raised through events and left in wills.

Every donation received goes towards covering the cost of the support the hospice provides to patients and their loved ones.