Urgent Need for New Funding Model for Hospices

Inconsistency in statutory funding, combined with a challenging fundraising environment and increasing costs, is placing the hospice sector under significant financial pressure.

Hospice UK recently reported that the hospice sector is on track for a £77m collective deficit for the financial year 2023-24. This would represent the worst end-of-year figures for the sector in around 20 years of tracking.

This week hospice funding was debated in the House of Commons, a vital opportunity to present the key funding challenges facing hospices across the UK and to advocate for more sustainable funding of our services.

Hospices across the country are struggling to keep up with inflation and rising costs and many are already cutting back services.

A recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hospice and End of Life Care found that ICB commissioning of hospice services is currently not fit for purpose. As a result, the services hospices provide for dying people and their families and the value they provide to the health system is at risk.

The demand for palliative care is growing significantly. For hospices to play their role in meeting this challenge, supporting NHS and social care services at excellent value to the taxpayer, they need a long-term, sustainable approach to funding based on close partnership with the wider health and care system.

Bolton Hospice Funding Update

Last year we announced that due to a combination of the cost-of-living crisis, high fuel and energy costs, high inflation and over 15 years of below inflation increases to our government NHS funding, our projected financial deficit for 2023-24 was £1.2million, and that without further government funding for 2024-25 and beyond, we would need to consider closing or reducing our services.

What is the current financial situation at Bolton Hospice?

Thanks to the incredible support of The Bolton News with their ‘Save Bolton Hospice’ campaign and the efforts of our generous local community, an extra £670,000 has been raised through donations and income generation.

As well as this incredible support from our community, unexpected additional legacy income and further income generation growth plans has helped to reduce the projected deficit for 2024-25 to £400,000.

However, if this substantial underlying financial deficit remains, we will be unable to sustain our services without a long-term solution from the government. With only 21% of the costs of running the hospice met by government funding and costs rapidly increasing - donations, fundraising and gifts in wills have never been so important.

How will Bolton Hospice reduce its deficit? 

To further reduce our substantial deficit this year, we continue to focus our efforts on exploring all possible avenues of further income generation and crucially, securing a fairer government NHS funding deal. 

As Chair of the GM Hospices group, Bolton Hospice CEO, Dr (h.c) Leigh Vallance has been working closely with the Greater Manchester ICB, along with the strategic clinical network (SCN) for Palliative and End of Life Care, to ensure the issues around financial sustainability for hospices are recognised and rectified. She has worked closely with commissioners for Bolton and is confident that they are committed to working with us and the wider system to ease the financial pressures we anticipate facing in 2024-25, whilst a longer term sustainable funding model is explored. 

“We have been overwhelmed by the show of support from our local community, it’s a true testament to the generosity of our supporters and the place we hold in Bolton’s heart.

The funds raised so far have crucially helped to keep our vital services running over the past year, we couldn’t have done it without you – thank you.

However, as we enter a new financial year with an unsustainable deficit remaining, it’s never been more important to continue to focus our efforts on securing a fairer government funding deal. Our community has stepped up to support their local hospice, and now it’s time for the government to do the same. A more sustainable funding solution is needed so that hospices can support the NHS in meeting rapidly growing demand for end of life care.

We will also be exploring further income generation avenues and are humbled to have such loyal supporters who go above and beyond to ensure we can continue to be there for families when they need us most. Your support means the world to us.

We will continue to do everything in our power to withstand these challenges and ensure we can continue to provide vital care and support for the people of Bolton, now and in the future.”

Dr (h.c) Leigh Vallance, Bolton Hospice Chief Executive Officer

How can I support Bolton Hospice?

There are lots of ways you can continue to support Bolton Hospice through the funding crisis: 

• Join our hospice lottery or make a monthly donation to help provide a steady source of income
• Donate pre-loved items or shop locally in one of our charity shops
• Become a patron
• Gift your time as a volunteer
• Attend or organise a fundraising event
• Pledge a gift in your will
• Show your support on social media to help raise awareness

For more information, you can watch the debate on hospice funding and read the full APPG report on Hospice and End of Life Care.