Fair Funding for Hospices: this can’t be left to charity

Today (15th April), our Chief Executive, Steph Edusei, and our Spiritual Care and Community Projects Lead, Davina Radford, joined hospices from across the UK in Westminster for Hospice UK’s Day of Action – part of the Fair Funding for Hospices campaign.

Some hospices delivered a joint letter to the Prime Minister. Others, including Steph and Davina, met MPs to make the campaign message impossible to ignore: hospice care is essential and it needs fair, sustainable funding.

It was a valuable chance to speak with MPs about the real effects funding pressures are having on hospices, and to highlight what this means for patients, families, and our teams.

Hospice care is a core part of the health and care system

Hospices are not “nice to have”. We wanted MPs to know we are a core part of the wider health and care system, supporting people with expert palliative and end-of-life care, and helping families through some of the hardest moments.

But right now, hospices are struggling with funding that doesn’t keep pace with the real cost of care. Fair, sustainable funding is essential.

What’s changed

Later this year, we’ll mark our 40th birthday. That’s 40 years of providing compassionate, expert care, free of charge for local families. That commitment hasn’t changed.

What has changed is the level of financial pressure hospices like ours are under:

• Demand for hospice care is rising as our population ages and the NHS is under increasing strain.
• Costs are rising faster than income – for safe staffing, clinical supplies, utilities, and the basics of running high-quality services.

Across the country, many hospices, including ours, are having to plan for deficits, carefully manage reserves, and make difficult choices, including reshaping services to match the funding we’re given.

We know that may feel worrying, but we want to reassure you that we are working hard to protect patient and family care, while acting now to secure the hospice’s future. That’s why we’re campaigning for fair funding.

Why fair funding matters

Charity income is vital, and we are deeply grateful for your support – our community’s generosity makes hospice care what it is. But your donations should not plug gaps in NHS funding.

Where we provide NHS-contracted services, charities like St Oswald’s Hospice should not be expected to subsidise rising costs using charitable donations.

Your support should fund and grow our charitable services for local families, the things we do as a hospice that add value, not fill widening gaps in core health funding.

That’s why we joined Hospice UK at Westminster today – to ensure we get fair, sustainable funding. That’s how we protect hospice care for local people now, and for the future.

Thank you for standing with us and with hospices across the country. Your support really does make a difference.