Home Finance UK hospices forced to rely on retail sales as government funding fails to measure up 

UK hospices forced to rely on retail sales as government funding fails to measure up 

by Kirsty Kirsty

This #HospiceCareWeek, new research from Hospice UK reveals that for the first time more money was spent in hospice charity shops than hospices received from government, as the sector struggles with the mounting financial pressures of providing vital end-of-life care. 

While Hospice UK, which represents more than 200 hospices nationwide, is celebrating the incredible work of retail staff and their generous customers in supporting the provision of hospice care, the charity warns that second hand shops and other local fundraising can’t be responsible for plugging the projected £60m funding gap in hospice care this year. 

The research reveals that charity shops would have to sell 5,375 pairs of jeans to fund a palliative care nurse for a year and a further 43,000 blouses to provide a patient with a hospice bed for the same period of time.  

Sarah West, Director of External Affairs at Hospice UK, says:  

“While it’s incredible to see how much is being raised by hospice charity shops, the astronomical amount of stock that needs to be sold to keep hospices going highlights how unsustainable it is to finance the sector in this way. 

“Hospices are having to make impossible decisions about the services they can afford to provide, including making frontline staff redundant, and closing or reducing some services. This not only puts more strain on the already over-stretched NHS, but also risks leaving many without access to care they so desperately need and deserve. Inaction is not an option. 

“Hospices simply cannot sustain services that cost more and more to run, without meaningful support from government. It’s time for government to urgently address the funding model to avoid a devastating future for the sector, and for those who need its vital care.” 

This #HospiceCareWeek, Hospice UK is calling for emergency support from government to stem the tide of hospice cutbacks, and for long term reform of hospice funding so that hospices are fairly funded for the services they provide.  

The charity is hosting a pop-up charity shop, supported by St Christopher’s Hospice, at Westminster on Thursday 10th September to further highlight the issue and encourage MPs to support the call for vital funding. 

Minnie Watts, a hospice care nurse at Royal Trinity Hospice, says: 

“Being able to access hospice care is incredibly important for someone coming to the end of their life or needing respite care, but also for their family and loved ones. No-one should be unable to access the care they deserve because of a lack of funding, but that is the heart-breaking reality we are facing.  

“We are so pleased to see the popularity of charity shops across the country continuing to grow and the part they play in funding hospice care, but it is not a substitute for sustainable funding from government.” 

Hospice care nurse Minnie Watts holding a stack of clothes worth approximately £207, the figure that would need to be raised to fund a hospice care nurse for a day

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