Hospice funding crisis: 'The people we care for deserve better' say bosses with more job cuts coming
Hospices across the region are rallying in the face of rising costs and uncertainty over government and NHS funding.
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Lichfield's St Giles Hospice is among six in the UK to announce service cuts and redundancies. Bosses are proposing 40 job losses as they grapple with a £1.5m funding black hole, blaming unprecedented financial pressures caused by rising costs and funding challenges.
Others also serving the Black Country and Staffordshire are backing a national campaign pleading with the Government and NHS chiefs to increase payments so hospices can continue running vital services to people with life-limiting conditions.
Grieving mother Liz Bishop, whose daughter Lily-Mai was cared for by Acorns Trust, last week delivered a 10,000-signature petition to 10 Downing Street. The seven-year-old had a brain tumour and died in 2018.
Trevor Johnson, chief executive of the trust which runs children's hospices in Walsall, Birmingham and Worcester, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the support so far and grateful to everyone who is backing our campaign.
"However, the fight will continue, because it’s unacceptable that specialist children’s hospice services like Acorns rely on people jumping out of aeroplanes and organising bake sales just to stay afloat.
“Pressure on the sector is increasing every day, and unless urgent action is taken by the government more hospices will buckle and be forced to make difficult decisions.The children and families we care for deserve better.”
