Manx hospice 'predominantly' back to full services

This week marks Hospice Care Week, which runs until Sunday

An organisation the provides end of life care on the Isle of Man has "predominantly" return to full service levels after a reduction due to staff shortages, its chief executive has said.

This year, Hospice Isle of Man's in-patient unit, which had been reduced to five at the end of 2022 due to staff availability, returned to its full capacity of 11 beds.

John Knight said the organisation, which supported one in two of all deaths on the island last year, had managed to reinstate services in a "cost effective way".

But he said the aging Manx population, meant there were "pressures for hospice to do more", with "even more pressures to be able to pay for it".

'Increasing pressures'

The annual budget of the organisation on the island was £6.8m, of which £1.7m comes from Manx Care - a figure that is currently in negotiation for the coming years - with the remaining £5.1m generated through fundraising.

While the charity's shops generated £500,000, a figure that continued to grow each year, much of that was needed to pay for the increasing costs of heating, lighting and electricity, Mr Knight said.

Out of a budgeted £1.6m in legacy donations, the charity was "way behind" on that figure with only about £600,000 gifted through wills this year so far, he continued.

He made the comments during Hospice Care Week, which is an annual event that raises awareness of the work of the organisations across the British Isles.

The week was important to make the public aware of the "range of services provided", which included day services such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy, as well as an around the clock home service, Mr Knight said.

Hospice was also working with care homes and nursing homes to educate them on what "excellence in end of life care looked like", he said.

This year's Hospice Care Week runs until Sunday.