North Yorkshire hospices facing funding crisis - council

North Yorkshire Council warns hospices are facing a funding crisis

Hospices are facing a funding crisis which means some services may have to be axed, a council has warned.

North Yorkshire Council health scrutiny committee was "shocked, saddened and concerned" to hear at its December meeting of the difficulties they faced.

Chair Andrew Lee said financial pressures could lead to a reduction or even closure of some hospice services.

His comments came after members met leaders of hospices in Harrogate, Scarborough, Thirsk and York.

Mr Lee said the annual cost of providing services at those hospices was about £20m and more than 70% of those costs needed to be raised through fundraising alone.

Hospices provide a range of end-of-life and palliative services.

In June last year, Hospice UK, which comprises 200 UK hospices, said 75% were reporting deficit budgets pre-pandemic.

Trustee David Smith said the current system which requires some hospices to generate the majority of their income themselves was "broken".

'Essential service'

Mr Lee said: "I think I speak for the whole committee when I say how shocked, saddened and concerned we are upon hearing the situation within our local hospices and the funding shortfall they face.

"These hospices, and many others, provide a very important and much-needed support network both for patients and their families at a very sad and vulnerable time.

"We must do all we can to raise awareness and support them to allow them to continue to provide this essential service."

The committee heard a number of factors were contributing to the problem, including increased running costs, reduced income from fundraising and differing funding models and contracts that provide income from the NHS.

Mr Lee said the committee "fully appreciates" the "huge financial challenges" facing the country.

"I shall be highlighting this with my colleagues in the NHS as we need to ensure we are all doing our utmost to support and raise awareness of this situation," he said.

NHS England said previously it was "undertaking extensive work" to review the way end-of-life care was funded.