Boss says funding will not help hospice staff costs

Rachel Hucknall, the chief executive of Nottinghamshire Hospice, said it was a "difficult time" for staff after it had to make cuts

As end-of-life care services across the country receive a share of £25m in government funding, one hospice boss says it will not help with what they need it for most.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) released the first tranche of a £100m capital fund for hospices on Wednesday - which can be used on things such as building, maintenance and IT.

But Rachel Hucknall, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Hospice - where jobs have been cut as a result of staffing costs - said while she was grateful for any contribution to the charity, the cash boost did not assist with 86% of its spending.

A spokesperson for the DHSC said: "The funding will reduce immediate pressures on hospices which will allow them to focus wider resources on providing the best care to patients."

Nottinghamshire Hospice - which will get £72,123 from this round of funding - will soon lose six members of staff after it announced the "difficult decision" to put 17 people at risk of redundancy in January.

The remaining staff will see their hours cut and job descriptions altered, Ms Hucknall said.

The hospice in Woodborough Road, Nottingham, is expecting to be facing a deficit of £500,000 in the 2025-26 financial year

While the charity had tried to protect key services, Ms Hucknall said there was "unease" in patients reaching the last years of their lives.

"There is some nervousness, I think, amongst people who do have a terminal illness about what end-of-life services are going to look like when their time comes," she said.

In January, patients told the BBC about the "invaluable" service the hospice provided and said they were devastated by the proposed cuts.

Hospices across the country began receiving a share of the fund on Wednesday, after the £100m boost was announced last year.

The remaining £75m is set to follow from April, in what the DHSC called the "biggest investment into hospices in a generation".

But what they "really need", according to Ms Hucknall, is money to spend on salaries.

'Too much to bear'

She said: "I always think it's a strange society that we're in because, if maternity care was funded by cake sales and skydives, there would be uproar, but for some reason end-of-life care funding seems to rely heavily on charitable donations.

"Obviously we're grateful for any contribution to hospice care but the fact is this is for capital only, so we can only spend it on things like beds and cars and IT."

She added: "If I had a magic wand, I would want the money that the government have given us to be able to be used on salaries and not just on capital expenditure - because 86% of our costs is on our staff."

Being charities meant hospices had the "freedom to be responsive to people's needs", Ms Hucknall said, but cost pressures were becoming "too much to bear".

Like most charities, hospices rely heavily on the goodwill of its communities.

But Ms Hucknall said that too, was becoming more difficult due to the impact of the cost of living.

She said increases in National Insurance and the National Living Wage left the hospice with a £200,000 "added cost pressure".

An expected deficit of £800,000 for the 2025-26 financial year had dropped to £500,000 since the job cuts, Ms Hucknall added.

Despite concerns around job cuts, Ms Hucknall said staff's "resilience and the care and kindness that they show to our patients and their families is absolutely second to none"

The government said the release of hospice capital funding supported its 10 Year Health Plan ambitions to shift healthcare into the community.

It previously said the palliative and end-of-life care sector, including hospices, would "have a big role to play in that shift".

But Ms Hucknall said she did not know what that shift would look like funding-wise, and whether it would be fast enough for Nottinghamshire Hospice without services being impacted.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Minister for Care Stephen Kinnock said: "This is the largest investment in a generation to help transform hospice facilities across England.

"From upgrading patient rooms to improving gardens and outdoor spaces, this funding will make a real difference to people at the end of their lives.

"Hospices provide invaluable care and support when people need it most and this funding boost will ensure they are able to continue delivering exceptional care in better, modernised facilities."

A DHSC spokesperson added: "This week's £25m boost for hospices will be followed by an extra £75m from April.

"This is the biggest investment in hospices in a generation and will help upgrade facilities and services for patients.

"The funding will reduce immediate pressures on hospices which will allow them to focus wider resources on providing the best care to patients."