Hospice UK warns that financial pressures mean that there has been a 25% jump in beds out of use in hospices across England.
Hospice UK has warned that there are now 380 beds out of use in hospices across England, up by over 25% since last year, when it was revealed that 300 beds were out of use in English hospices.
It comes on the back of a warning that two in five hospices are planning to make cuts this year. The number of beds that have either been fully de-registered or taken out of operation during the year accounts for nearly 140,000 days and nights of care unavailable.
Furthermore, this year’s data shows that 160 of these beds are permanently closed.
“The financial situation facing hospices is untenable, with even more beds out of use this year than last year,” said Hospice UK chief executive Toby Porter.
“We know many hospices have waiting lists and demand for end-of-life care is rising, so it’s not a case of lack of demand. Hospices desperately want to reach everyone who needs them, but financial pressure is holding them back,” he added.
Reduced service
The warning from Hospice UK comes on the back of the report earlier this month from the National Audit Office that the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE) do not clearly understand what proportion of palliative and end-of-life care is delivered by independent adult hospices, and therefore, how much they are reliant on the sector, or what the real impact of government funding is.
Funding from Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), through grants or contracts, met 40% of independent adult hospices’ expenditure on services in 2023-24, equating to more than £400 million. But a lack of central oversight from DHSC means it is unclear what this funding is specifically used for, or whether it is sufficient to maintain the sector’s future without more services having to be delivered by the NHS to meet increasing demand.
Nearly two-thirds of independent hospices reported a deficit in 2023-24, and overall expenditure was £78 million more than the income generated.
In response to this, some hospices have reduced service, and there have been cuts to both beds and staff. The financial resilience of the independent adult hospice sector faces further challenges due to the declining return on investment from fundraising.
The government announced £100 million of capital funding for the sector in December last year, which was released in two tranches – most recently in August.
