The Chief Executive of Mountbatten Isle of Wight has said that he has never experienced such a ‘critical and desperate time’ when it comes to hospice funding from the NHS, with the wider group set to be down on funding by a staggering £800,000 by April. In response to a critical report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for hospice and end-of-life care, which states commissioning of hospice services is currently not fit for purpose, Nigel Hartley MBE had made clear that “if something doesn’t change soon, we will be saying goodbye to our beloved hospice movement”. Mountbatten Group currently supports around 2,000 people on the Isle of Wight and a further 1,500 across Hampshire. It costs some £21million a year to operate the hospices on either side of the Solent, with around 1/3 of funding coming directly from the NHS – the rest comes from each hospice’s fundraising efforts. But come April, Mountbatten will find itself down £800,000 due to there being no uplift – the amount received from the NHS will remain flat. This means that additional costs, such as an increase in wages and the cost of living, are not being covered. Uplifts received in the past have never matched the actual additional costs. Mr Hartley says there is potential for other cuts too, at a time when Mountbatten anticipates a 40% growth in the demand for its services in the coming years, mainly due to the growing older population. The damning report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) states that the services hospices provide for dying people and their families, and the value they provide to the health system, is at risk. It’s said that integrated care boards must commit to delivering their statutory requirement and start by placing hospices on multiyear contracts, paying the full cost of commissioned clinical services and offering hospices the same annual increases as NHS services. There are now calls for the Government to produce a national plan to ensure the right funding flows to hospices. In a statement, Mr Hartley has said:
“Another critical report from the APPG on Hospice and a Palliative Care – but who is listening and who is being held accountable? “I’ve work in hospices for over 35 years and I have never experienced such a critical and desperate time with regard to hospice funding from the NHS. “Mountbatten has been fortunate to have retained a proper contract with the local NHS for a number of years, receiving around a third of our funding from them and performing and reporting accordingly. “Everything we do has been in agreement with local NHS commissioners. Our NHS funding will be down by £800,000 in April this year due to no uplift, so the amount will remain flat (uplifts over the last years have never matched the cost of staff pay awards or cost of living) with other potential cuts. “If something doesn’t change soon, we will be saying goodbye to our beloved hospice movement and the growing number of people who so desperately need our care will be left and ignored as they were at the birth of the NHS in the 1940s. “So much of what we do is supported by our local communities. I think there are strengths in that and we need to retain healthy and reciprocal relationships with our biggest advocates, but it only works with consistent, competent and planned funding from our NHS partners. “We also need our relationships with them to be healthy and reciprocal but we can no longer sit back and ignore this – we will not sit back and ignore this.”
Scandalous that Mountbatten and dentistry on the island struggles for government funding…. but they are able to find 7m a day for the boat people….
Grow up and wake up. The “boat people” are a distraction.
The real issue is the £billions Tory cronies are bleeding out of taxpayers pockets.
Rubbish, the flotsam is a NEVER ending cost, as their numbers have ‘no end’.
The cost won’t end EVER but grow as they start having children to force the ‘right to stay’ here. Then their hotel or ship place will be ‘filled’ by another arrival.
So we will be keeping all the newcomers and almost all those who are allowed to stay due to never leaving a womb empty, as we then fund their rent, c.tax, universal credit, health care and costly education. Add money for the disabled, and as they age as they will pensions for all of them too.
For the tiny amount of tax they pay IF they work, will NEVER cove the costs shown above.
The Tory costs are nothing compared. THINK
This always happens when a tory government can see defeat on the horizon (no pun intended) It is the usual grab the cash and run attitude. Why do you think sausage bob is silent about serious stuff and only pops up for a photo op about something that has no bearing on most peoples lives.
If we didn’t have the hospice, how would our Hospital cope ?????
They take the pressure off of families and friends to ensure that their loved ones are cared for, at a very difficult time.
The staff work hard .
It should be that all hospices get a fair and well deserved uplift in the fact of the work they do …
Yet billions are spent of our money on allowing illegals here.
See why our peoples healthcare is so grossly underfunded.
Being kind to others is fine IF if you can afford it.
We no longer can but they still keep coming and will forever without action for their numbers increase faster than we can build or fund from our taxes.
The hospice is wonderful but people now struggle to fund themselves so sadly charity is then low on their list of priorities.
Agencies like the many hospices, RNLI and RSPCA and many others should never have to rely on the public supporting them, its not only a national disgrace but an embarassment
Can understand your point, but I disagree with you . Our hospice movement is independent and must stay that way. We must not let them become dictated to by the government. I know local fundraising is harder than expecting the money to be publicly provided, but that always comes with caveats, and we cannot risk the hospice becoming subservient to the whims of the nhs. We need to all support them. More ways need to be found. The people of this island step up in support, and we cannot stop doing that.
Having to spend millions on diversity managers to run the most diverse outfit on the planet.
The Island has just been given an additional £3 million in funding.
How about allocating £800,000 of that money to the hospice?
Personally, I’d rather see it used on something like that rather than being frittered away on nonsensical projects.
If there’s 2,000 people here on the Island right now who depend on this service, what better use of the money than to support them in their time of need?
Maybe charities need to stop lotteries to the public too. Why do they need a lottery. If I’m supporting them I’m supporting them not for people to win a £1000 and lining their pockets . This would help and save a lot to go towards supporting the real purpose we donate to
Well done the Conservative party…