25
Jun 2019
Children’s hospices in England may be forced to shut if NHS funding does not increase
A charity has warned that children’s hospices in England will either have to cut their services of close unless the NHS increases it’s funding.
The charity, Together For Short Lives, which supports terminally ill children, emphasised a ‘dangerous cocktail’ of a drop in state funding and higher costs, in a recent report investigating funding for 27 of the 34 children’s hospices in England.
According to the charity, the hospices each spend around £3.7m per year, which equates to an annual spend across the country of £125m, and shows an increase in spending of 4.5 per cent since 2016/17.
However, the percentage contributed by the state has reduced from 27 per cent to 21 per cent in the last five years, and hospices have had to use reserved funds or stop services as a result.
The Forget Me Not group, which has a hospice in West Yorkshire, said that the lack of NHS and council funding has had a ‘huge impact’ on the care they can provide.
Luen Thompson, chief executive of the group, said “Our Huddersfield hospice receives less than 3 per cent in statutory funding of the £4 million it needs to run. Our offer to families shouldn’t depend on how much we raise at a bucket collection or how much bric-a-brac we sell in one of our shops.”
A spokesperson fro the NHS said “NHS funding for children’s end of life care is going up every year and is set to more than double within the next five years, with up to £25m going in to care as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.”
Chadwick Lawrence’s team of medical negligence lawyers have years of experience in high value and complex medical negligence compensation claims and have an excellent record. The team is led by Tony May, a specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury solicitor, who has over 20 years experience in handling cases in which babies have been brain damaged or sustained other injuries as a result of medical negligence. He and his team continue to represent many cerebral palsy children and young adults in medical negligence claims. Tony also acts as the Court of Protection Deputy for many of the cerebral palsy and brain damaged clients that he has represented, so we can continue to support you after your case is settled. Tony can be contacted by email on tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk. Alternatively, please call and speak to any of Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist medical negligence Legal Aid and no win-no fee solicitors for free legal advice on the freephone number below.
Freephone: 0800 304 7382
- Like this ? Share with friends