'I don't want to say goodbye to hospice staff'

Kate Poole has been a patient at Nottinghamshire Hospice since 2019, after being diagnosed with incurable breast cancer

"They're just so kind and caring. You could drown in the tea they make."

Patients at Nottinghamshire Hospice are full of praise for the staff who care for them as they face the final months and years of their lives.

But now those same patients say they feel "angry" and "devastated" at the news that 17 employees have been placed at risk of redundancy due to the hospice's financial situation.

Bosses have said while it is due to get a share of £100m in extra funding from the government, this will not help to pay for staff, which is their biggest cost.

'I'm just Kate'

Kate Poole, 60, was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2017 after finding a rash on one of her breasts.

She was told one month later it had spread to her bones and was incurable.

The mum of two is now on her 90th round of chemotherapy to try and manage the disease.

Mrs Poole, from Beeston in Nottinghamshire, told the BBC: "I was listening to Victoria Derbyshire one night and she said she just knew, when she looked at her breasts, that there was something wrong and that was how I felt. I just knew.

"My son tried to hold it together. My daughter was hysterical. It was just the world's worst."

Mrs Poole's sister-in-law encouraged her in 2019 to attend wellbeing and talking therapy sessions at the hospice.

She said she was reluctant at first, but quickly made friends and took comfort from speaking to other people in her position.

Mrs Poole says she now looks forward to the time she spends at the hospice, and is "angry" at the prospect of staff losing their jobs.

"I don't like talking about my death, but I want to die at home if I can," she said. "When I walk in, I see the nurses and I think, I wouldn't mind you being there for my husband and the kids.

"They're so important, so knowledgeable. To them, I'm not Kate with cancer. I'm not Kate with the terminal disease. I'm just Kate. I need this place."

Neville Thompson has been using the hospice for two months after he was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour in November

Neville Thompson was diagnosed with a brain tumour in September last year.

Doctors started an intensive treatment plan, but he was told in November it was untreatable and was given a prognosis of between three and 18 months.

The 74-year-old came out as gay four years ago and said his terminal diagnosis had robbed him of time being his authentic self.

"I met someone who bowled me off my feet and now we haven't got that much time together, which is very sad," he said.

"When we found out, we got married. It was beautiful."

Mr Thompson started attending Nottinghamshire Hospice's wellbeing sessions two months ago and hopes to be able to die at his home in Sherwood, in Nottingham, with the help of staff.

"It's my last wish. I don't like the thought of being in any pain and I hope I'm just here one minute and the next I'm not," he said.

"I'm penguin crazy so I've created a special garden in my back yard. I've got a 2ft penguin in it and that's where my ashes are going."

Mr Thompson told the BBC he is "devastated" for the staff at risk.

"They're just fun and so caring," he said. "You could drown in the tea and coffee that they make."

'Very positive environment'

Christopher Smith is on long-term palliative care and has been a patient at the hospice since June last year.

The 56-year-old said: "I just came because I like the camaraderie. It gives you a respite from being at home on your own thinking negatively so it's an invaluable service.

"It's very different to what people think. It's a very positive environment and 100% support when you walk through the door."

Mr Smith has been given a prognosis of three to five years and said he hoped to live to see the hospice's "funding crisis" improve.

"All services are important here and all services should be should be financed. I don't think there should be a trade-off with staff," he said.

"They just create a positive environment with their attitude and experience and I can't understand how they're not financed.

"It's critical something changes."

Chief executive Rachel Hucknall said the decision "wasn't taken lightly"

Nottinghamshire Hospice, in Woodborough Road, Nottingham, faces an extra £190,000 in costs in its budget for 2025-26 and a predicted £800,000 overall deficit.

The charity has said £4 of every £5 it spends is on staff and has placed the 17 employees at risk to protect its Hospice In Your Home services.

Chief executive Rachel Hucknall said donations provided most of the charity's funding, as NHS income had fallen "in real terms" over the last five years.

"We've also had increases in utility bills, increases in petrol. And then the national minimum wage has increased costs for us as well," she said.

Ms Hucknall added the decision to put staff into consultation "wasn't taken lightly", but was necessary to protect the hospice's future.

"People work here because they feel really passionately about end-of-life care and giving people a good death, but we've had to make this decision now to make sure that we can be sustainable," she said.

A DHSC spokesperson previously said: "We recently announced the largest investment in hospices in a generation.

"This £100m fund will improve facilities and allow hospices to focus their attention and wider resources on providing the best care to patients.

"Ministers continue to work to make the sector sustainable in the long-term, including via our 10 Year Health Plan."

But the hospice added even though the support was welcomed, the money did not support hospices to pay its staff.