The Isle of Wight’s MP has thrown his support behind Mountbatten to secure a better funding deal from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) – the body responsible for giving NHS money to the hospice. Mountbatten currently receives approximately 1/3 of its income through the ICB, however, there is no means in place for an automatic annual uplift to cover rising costs in line with inflation – leaving the hospice with a shortfall to address each year. Mountbatten’s CEO Nigel Hartley recently warned that, without the uplift, in real terms income for Mountbatten will be down by approximately £800,000 for 2024/25, as reported by Island Echo. Bob Seely has now said that he is concerned that a full funding allocation is not being passed onto Mountbatten from the NHS Board, and is asking for answers from the ICB as to why this is the case. Speaking about the situation, Bob Seely MP has said:
“It is vital that the ICB delivers an uplift in line with inflation on the c.£3.5m it already provides to Mountbatten. I know that Mountbatten wants to do all it can to avoid passing these costs onto Islanders who already do so much to support the hospice through their generous donations. “Mountbatten does amazing and unique work. It is one of the most remarkable organisations on the Island. I don’t think I’ve come across a single person on the Isle of Wight who doesn’t know of someone who has received support from Mountbatten. We all immensely appreciate the work that Mountbatten does.
Mr Seely has joined forces with Paul Holmes, Conservative MP for Eastleigh, to request a funding uplift from the ICB in line with inflation for both of Mountbatten’s hospices – the 1 on the Island and the 1 in Hampshire. In a joint letter to the ICB, the MPs have said:
“We ask that a fair and proper uplift of eight per cent is added to the Mountbatten Hospices’ contracted amount for 2024/25 in order that they can continue to deliver vital, much needed and valued services to the continually growing number of people who need them. “Our understanding is that money is passed to ICBs from the government to cover such uplifts on these contracts, so this should not be an issue.”
Nigel Hartley has said:
“We are very uncomfortable with how things stand at the moment, we do not want to lose our hospice or any element of the work we do so we need this sorted out. “We are very fortunate that our local communities really get behind us with our fundraising efforts and we are so very thankful for that. Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support and thank you to Bob and Paul for their support as well. “I hope we can sort this out quickly so that we can continue to support Islanders with all the support and care they need at the end of their lives.”
UPDATE THURSDAY – In response, Darren Cattell, Place Director for the Isle of Wight at NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, has said:
“There are a number of hospices across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who currently receive some funding from the NHS Integrated Care Board along as from other sources. We are working closely with them and discussing the way their services are funded going forward. “We have a commitment to fund end of life care which we do so in a number of different ways, from supporting local hospices to providing end of life care support and palliative care for more complex cases in a person’s own home. “Services provided by Mountbatten Hospices are incredibly well respected and appreciated by our communities and we want to maintain that for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight residents. “We are facing some complex financial challenges across the health and care system and we are working hard with our partners to address these.”
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I hope that you are successful. The Hospice changes lives and deserves all the help it can get.
You know Seely is just a windbag full of hot air right?
Never delivered on a single promise and constantly claims credit for things that have nothing to do with him whatsoever.
Ironic that the state of this, and many other charities, is courtesy of Tories like him (and you, if you are that Ian Ward).
I saw this picture and immediately thought Ray Alan and Lord Charles. “You silly arse”.
It most certainly does but “seldom seen Seeley” has paid it scant regard up until now when there is an election looming, I doubt he knew where it was and had to have an aid find out!.
Choc t pot is really coming out of woodwork huh !!
I am 100% in support of the hospice but what Seely is doing here he trying to tell the ICB how to carve up the funds it is provided with. They have to balance a lot of competing demands. The real issue is the fact that the Conservative government doesn’t provide overall enough funding to properly provide for everything. If MPs want to do something meaningful they should be geting the Chancellor to provide sufficient funds for all and end the practice of robbing Peter to pay Paul. But this has nothing to do with providing health care any everything to do with self promotion in an election year.
Getting his face seen around the constituency quite a bit at the moment. Meeting and greeting the great unwashed. There must be an election around the corner!!!
Has anyone got a clue why Mr Seely is suddenly popping up all over the place adding his voice to popular local issues? The Hospice . . . the Military Road . . . the ferries. It couldn’t possibly be that there is an election on the horizon could it?
Here he is again, our pop up bob. He really is hard at “work” trying to keep his seat. No chance though bob, so just give up please.
Seen more of this useless b@st@rd more in the last 2 weeks than I’ve seen in the last 2 years. Anyone would think there’s an election on the horizon.
The mannequin that is Bob Seeley is popping up for photoshoots’ everywhere at the moment. Barely seen the man for years and now he is annoyingly everywhere. Too late Bob pack your bags, you failed a long time ago.
Not the real Bob. This is his bobby double called Terry Fuckwit. Bob would never lower himself to visiting the plebs.