'False economy': hospices days away from financial cliff edge, MPs warn
Hospices are facing a funding cliff edge next month, MPs have warned, however the Government and NHS England are not responding to the crisis in the industry “with the seriousness and urgency” it demands.
The Public Accounts Committee, which scrutinises public sector spending, found that the escalating situation has led to hospices already reducing services in anticipation of the new financial year.
This comes at a time when demand for palliative and end of life care is rising, yet a new report from the PAC says too many people are spending their final days in hospital.
MPs said that while national insurance contributions and the minimum wage have risen, government grants have not kept pace with inflation.
They heard that some hospices have already announced staff redundancies, while others are already struggling under significant financial deficits.
Shipley MP Anna Dixon, a member of the PAC and also the chair of the hospices and end of life care all-party parliamentary group, said that the distribution of funding in many parts of the country was not based on demand.
“There’s a total lack of urgency from the Government, and even a lack of recognition that services are being reduced by hospices,” she told The Yorkshire Post.
“It’s also a false economy. This support that hospices provide to a lot of people to die at home or in the community surrounded by their loved ones also relieves the NHS, in terms of bed days in acute care and ultimately in costs.”
However, Ms Dixon explained that some of the best examples of collaboration between hospices and the NHS was found in West Yorkshire.
She explained that at the Bradford Royal Infirmary a palliative care area had been installed in the emergency department through Marie Curie, to quickly provide patients with their options and try and move them out of the hospital and into the community.
“The PAC highlights that this is the future of hospice care, however in some places they are at very early stages and need more support,” Ms Dixon added.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Hospices do incredible work to support people and families when they need it most and are facing incredibly tough pressures.
“This government has made the biggest investment in hospices in a generation - £125 million – to improve hospice facilities, freeing other funding for patient care, and has also committed £80 million for children’s and young people’s hospices over three years.
“We will soon set out our plans to modernise and improve the palliative and end of life care sector, as we shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community with hospices playing a central role in delivering care closer to home.”