Hospice to cut staff and services due to funding shortage

The hospice has announced it must save £1m and cut 35 jobs to secure its future.

The chief executive of St Catherine’s Hospice, which serves West Sussex and Surrey, said funding for the sector needed an urgent, thorough review.

Giles Tomsett said the Government’s contribution covered 23% of operating costs and that over a decade the Government had failed to keep up with inflation.

The Ministry of Health said the new government had inherited huge challenges but ministers were “determined to move more healthcare from hospitals” to communities.

Mr Tomsett said the rise in the cost of living had also affected donors’ ability to donate.

The 35 clinical roles at risk, including nursing, are expected to impact community services where staff visit patients in their homes. There will be no reduction in patient beds at Pease Pottage Hospice at this stage.

Mr Tomsett described the decision as “heartbreaking”.

He said: “We have made significant reductions to our support teams, reduced the hours of our community advice line and changed the way our treatment team operates.”

The hospice currently employs over 230 people.

‘Healthcare’

Last week it was revealed that five hospices across the UK had confirmed or planned job cuts, including one in the West Midlands where it announced it would cut 40 posts and some patient beds.

Hospice UK, the organisation representing the sector, said no other area of ​​the healthcare system would tolerate cuts to services or job losses on this scale and warned it was likely that other charities would publish further statements.

The Ministry of Health and Social Care has said it wants to ensure everyone has access to “high-quality end-of-life care.”

The document states: “Hospices provide essential, compassionate care to people at the end of their lives, as well as invaluable support to their families.

“This government is committed to moving more healthcare out of hospitals and into communities to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting.”

Toby Porter, chief executive of Hospice UK, said: “Hospices are ideally placed to ease the huge burden on the NHS.

“It is extremely counterproductive to allow their services to be restricted in this way.”

Follow BBC Sussex on FacebookON Xand further Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

Related Web Links

More on this topic