Why hospice funding must be addressed over the next Parliament - Yorkshire Post Letters

With the General Election just round the corner, I am writing to plead with your readers to join me and Sue Ryder in speaking up for people who are dying or grieving by calling on our future government to make end-of-life care and bereavement support a priority.

The team at Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice in Leeds were there for my dad and my family when we needed them.

When dad needed palliative care they were there for him and they were there for us too. They provided all the care we needed, they got everything sorted and they made sure everything we needed was in place. The care they gave us was so passionate and full of love. They took my family and I under their wings.

We never forget our loved ones, but we also never forget the care they received during their final moments. The care they receive lives with us and these people become part of our hearts and family.

But these life-changing services don’t have enough funding from the government, and many people don’t know about the help hospices give, or how to access it.

I hope by sharing these words I can show your readers how palliative care helps people; managing their pain, symptoms, and emotional distress.

With hospices on average only receiving a third of the funding they need from government, they rely on raising money through fundraising and voluntary donations to cover the rest.

Hospice funding must be addressed over the next Parliament. Unless the funding changes, hospices will remain under threat and more and more people will miss out on the care they need – like the care my dad was fortunate to receive - at the end-of-life.

That shouldn’t be happening.

Sue Ryder was there for me and my family so we were not alone. Please join me by adding your signature to Sue Ryder’s letter telling the next Government they must make people who are dying and grieving a priority at sueryder.org/letter.

Because no one should face death or grief alone.