MORE must be done to tackle long-term underfunding of the hospice sector, Lichfield’s MP has said.
Labour’s Dave Robertson made his comments following a visit to St Giles Hospice.
The Whittington-based charity has recently announced it will make 21 staff redundant and reduce inpatient capacity from 23 to 14 beds as it looks to plug a funding gap.
The hospice has an annual budget of £10million, but only around 18% comes from Government funding.
Bosses at St Giles said that while recent changes had reduced the current deficit it faces, new pressures due to changes to National Insurance contributions and potential wage increases could add hundreds of thousands of pounds to its salary costs.
The issues were discussed with Mr Robertson during his visit. He said:
“No one who visits St Giles Hospice can fail to see the compassion and care every volunteer and member of staff has and provides.
“For decades, hospices and the work they do have been undervalued and underfunded.
“It’s high time this changed and I am eager to be part of the campaign to make hospice funding sustainable in the 21st century,
“Last week, Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, confirmed that a decision on support for hospices will be taken before Christmas.”
Elinor Eustace, Interim CEO of St Giles Hospice, said she welcomed the MP’s support.
“We are grateful for Mr Robertson’s commitment to championing sustainable funding for hospice care.
“The visit provided an important opportunity to discuss our current financial challenges and the difficult decisions we’ve had to make to safeguard the future of our services.
“Having recently had to make significant changes, including reducing our bed capacity and implementing staff redundancies, immediate support would help protect our progress and manage upcoming challenges, including increased National Insurance costs estimated at around £200,000.
“We look forward to continuing our conversations with Dave on how the Government can help support sustainable funding for hospice care.
“The hospice sector as a whole is facing significant financial challenges nationally, with hospices across the UK facing a collective £77million funding deficit.
“We continue to work alongside Hospice UK and other hospices to advocate for sustainable funding solutions.”
So what does our MP have to say about the impact of NI increases that were implemented by his party and will create an additional cost of £200k to this Charity.
the Labour Party are “ cloth eared “when it comes to “ real life” issues for not just Charity – but small businesses who employ people.