Our hospices need funding, urgently

RICHARD FOORD IS THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT MP FOR HONITON AND SIDMOUTH

In February 1984, a Mr V. Newby wrote a letter to the editor of the Sidmouth Herald, wondering if anyone else might be interested in setting up a hospice project in the town. 40 years later, Sidmouth Hospice at Home is a very successful charity. It relieves the NHS and social care and provides love to families when they need it most.

I have thrown my weight behind a national campaign to support hospices, at a time when many are forced to scale back their services due to crippling financial challenges.

A Change.org petition that has amassed 36,000 signatures, is asking for people to support a campaign to redirect fines on the big banks to support hospices. I have been lobbied by people who have signed it. And I see it as a worthy cause.

Earlier this year, Devon charity Hospiscare was forced to reduce its community nursing service and close four of its twelve beds in Exeter, due to soaring costs.

Last week, hospice leaders across the country warned that 300 beds have been mothballed or closed permanently, and that some hospice charities are laying off staff. They say that the sector requires over £100m urgently to prevent further cuts.

For most hospices, NHS funding makes up about one third of their income. However, our local ‘hospice at home’ services in east Devon receive no funding from government, relying entirely on donations from the community.

The challenges faced by hospice charities has been brought into sharp relief recently with the debate in Parliament last month of the so-called ‘assisted dying’ Bill. When I voted for the Bill to go forward and receive further scrutiny in the House of Commons, I said that I would want to ensure that funding was also increased for palliative care services.

Each year, millions of pounds worth of FCA fines are received in central government coffers. The total for this year now stands at £174 million.

In the short-term, if the first £100 million of annual Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fines could be allocated to the struggling hospice sector, it would offset some of the financial challenges that hospices are facing. A well-funded hospice sector would ease the pressure on NHS and social care.

Longer-term, I would love to see the reversal of tax cuts made by the Conservatives on the big banks. The Bank Surcharge and Bank Levy would have raised £22bn over the next five years if they had continued to have been levied at 2016 rates. That would have paid for a lot more than just hospices!

In the meantime, we must all be enormously grateful for the generosity of charitable giving, that is just about keeping local hospice services afloat.