Children’s hospices across the UK are warning of financial uncertainty, despite government claims of delivering ‘the biggest investment into hospices in a generation’.
The Department of Health and Social Care says it has committed £100m to hospice services, but care providers are saying that not a single penny of this money can be used to cover essential staffing and day-to-day costs, leaving them struggling to keep up with soaring demand.
Instead, the funding can only be used to invest in capital projects, equipment and buildings that may soon lay idle if funding for the care staff that handle them cannot be maintained.
This frustration is one Justin Derbyshire, CEO of Haven House Children’s Hospice in Woodford Green, is all too familiar with.
He said: “Whilst we welcome the £100m investment, of which we received £265,338 this financial year, this funding cannot be used for staffing and other running costs so does not improve our revenue position.”
Haven House supported 325 seriously ill babies and children last year, providing round the clock care both from their four-acre hospice and out in the community meaning they can be there for families ‘where and when they need it’.
Running these services costs £6m a year – nearly £17,000 a day.
Only a quarter of that comes from statutory income via the £26m annual Children’s Hospice Grant, distributed through NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).
This has left Haven House needing to raise £3 for every £1 it receives from government support.
The problem is that recently the grant is only being allocated on a year-by-year basis.
Without a multi-year commitment, hospices across the UK are being left in a position where they cannot plan sustainably for the future.
Discussing this strain, Derbyshire said: “There is an incredible amount required in terms of support each year, and the flux in that support means we don’t have the confidence to grow or invest.
“We’re seeing huge increases in demand – a 220% rise in end-of-life care and more children living with complex conditions.
“Yet we’re having to divert more and more energy into fundraising to keep services afloat.”
This comes as the NHS increasingly relies on hospices to deliver care in the community as hospitals struggle under pressure.
In its announcement of the £100m capital funding, the Department of Health and Social Care said hospices will play ‘a big role’ in shifting healthcare away from hospitals as part of its 10-Year health plan.
But children’s palliative care is notably absent from any mention in the plan.
Speaking on the omission, Nick Carroll, CEO of Together for Short Lives, said: “I am disappointed that, in a document of more than 160 pages, palliative care for seriously ill children and young people is not specifically referred to once.
“Children’s palliative care is not a condition – it is an essential part of our health and care system which some of the most vulnerable children and families rely on.”
It appears then that, despite rising demand and government claims of record investment, children’s hospice care is far from being treated as a priority.
Derbyshire added: “Without a clear commitment, we’re left asking: when will a plan arrive? Where is the multi-year support we need to meet this ever-growing demand?
“For now, we can keep delivering services, but our ability to expand and adapt them to match what children and families truly need is being made more difficult.
“It feels like trying to do our job with our hands tied behind our back.”
Hospices warn that unless the £100m capital investment is matched with long-term, ring fenced funding for frontline care, brand new equipment will mean little.
Instead of focusing on children and families, hospice care providers fear they will remain locked in a cyclical battle for survival, one that will not support an ever-growing demand.
The Londoners reached out to the Department of Health and Social Care for a comment.
Featured image credit: Haven House Children’s Hospice
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