Hospice funding needs to be a priority
It is extremely worrying to hear that hospices across the country are having to make cuts to vital services. End-of-life care is so important because we only get one chance to make it right.
We have a good relationship with our NHS partners and by working together, and with the continued support of our local community, we are confident we can secure the future of our outstanding palliative and end of life care services for people living in Havering, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Brentwood and West Essex.
Our local community continue to support us, inspired by the compassionate care we provide tailored to each individual and their loved ones. However, 69% of our funding comes from donations and charitable giving and we can never guarantee how much income we will receive year on year.
Collaboration with our NHS partners will be key to ensuring local people who are seriously ill can live and die well in the place of their choosing. At the same time, investing in hospice care will ease the pressure off the NHS by preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and freeing up beds.
Saint Francis Hospice is not in crisis, but financial pressure is ever present. The past few years have brought unprecedented challenges. During the Covid pandemic, the Hospice made redundancies and planned for a difficult financial period while working hard to secure increased funding from our commissioners. As always, we were incredibly grateful to our supporters who continued to donate and help in any way they could.
A 60% hike in energy bills, an increase in food costs and clinical supplies, along with the 5% pay rise to staff, comparable to the award by the NHS in England last year, also put huge pressure on our resources.
We are one of the oldest and largest adult hospices in the country and we have significant investment plans to ensure we are a sustainable organisation for the next 40 years. Our focus on growth is vital, to meet the increasing need for our care across all the communities we serve, with particular focus on equity of access.
We are acutely aware that we face significant challenges over the next five years. Work is being carried out on our ward to ensure we continue to deliver our outstanding palliative and end of life care services in the best environment to people under our care and their loved ones.
We are also in the process of developing our new five-year strategy, which will see us work hard to reach more people who desperately need our care and support, and transform the ways we operate as a business.
The population in all our catchment areas is predicted to grow by more than 100,000 in the next 10 years and there will be even more need for our Hospice services as the number of people living with dementia and other complex illnesses rises.
With the increase in diversity in our boroughs, it is clear palliative and end of life care needs and expectations amongst our communities will differ significantly from borough to borough and are already changing rapidly, calling for tailored and dynamic ways to care for people, both on site and increasingly more in the community.
We remain committed to investing in the future of palliative and end of life care for them, as we develop our strategy, but we need assurance that statutory funding will continue and develop in line with the changing community needs and the rising service delivery costs. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our hospice partners and colleagues, to safeguard and evolve the services we provide, so that as a sector we become more resilient and can focus on a more sustainable future.
