Crawley MP demands financial support for hospice

Crawley politicians have condemned the funding shortfall at St Catherine's Hospice in West Sussex

Crawley's MP and the leader of the town's borough council have called for immediate support for a hospice facing job cuts.

St Catherine's Hospice, which operates in West Sussex and Surrey, announced on 5 September it needed to save £1.5m and cut 40 clinical jobs to stay open.

Both Peter Lamb MP and councillor Michael Jones have met with hospice staff to discuss its financial future.

The pair called for short-term support as they said the hospice was encouraged to upgrade its facilities but funding has not followed.

Peter Lamb MP met with St Catherine's staff this week to discuss their cuts

In a joint statement, they said: "We understand the hospice was encouraged by health partners to make this move, but the funding has not followed.

"The impact is a retraction of a service we were told needed to expand."

They said they have raised the issue with health ministers and NHS Sussex Integrated Care and have also asked for a commitment to long-term reform.

The hospice recently moved from Malthouse Road, Southgate to a £19.5m site in Pease Pottage where it has more than 230 staff.

'Heart-breaking'

In-patient beds at the new site will not be reduced but the hospice said the cuts would affect community care.

St Catherine's chief executive Giles Tomsett said the government's contribution covered 23% of running costs and that over 10 years it had not kept up with inflation.

He also believes the cost of living crisis has affected the amount donors are able to give.

Mr Tomsett described the situation as "heart-breaking" when the cuts were announced.

Dr James Ramsay, chief medical officer at NHS Sussex, said he recognised the "financial challenge that hospices across the country, and in Sussex, are facing and understand the impact on them, their incredible teams, and the services they provide".

"Each year, we provide financial support to St Catherine’s hospices, alongside the seven other adult hospices in Sussex, through grant funding. Our funding position for hospices in Sussex has not changed – we have not reduced the amount of money they receive," he said.

He added that NHS Sussex is working with partner organisations to establish "how we may be able to support St Catherine's" to carry out its work "within our communities and closer to home", as well as in hospices and hospitals.