The government has released an initial £25 million funding for hospice care as part of its £100 million capital funding over the next two years.
The government has confirmed the release of an initial £25 million for upgrades and refurbishments for hospices across England.
As Healthcare Today reported in late December, the government announced £100 million of capital funding, spread over two years, to help hospices provide the best end-of-life care to patients and their families in a supportive and dignified physical environment. Hospices for children and young people will also receive a continuation of £26 million in revenue funding for 2025/26 through what until recently was known as the Children’s Hospice Grant.
Minister for care Stephen Kinnock has called it “the largest investment in a generation” saying that it will transform hospice facilities across England.
The cash will be distributed immediately for the 2024/25 financial year, with a further £75 million to follow from April. More than 170 hospices across the country will receive funding, including those run by Marie Curie and Sue Ryder, as well as independent hospices like Zoe’s Place in Liverpool.
Cash injection
The immediate cash injection, allocated through Hospice UK from the department, will enable hospices to purchase essential new medical equipment, undertake building refurbishments, improve technology, upgrade facilities for patients and families and implement energy efficiency measures.
The larger £75 million investment will support more substantial capital projects, including major building works and facility modernisation, throughout the next financial year.
The funding was welcomed by the industry.
“The greater stability provided by the government’s funding injection this year and next gives us a golden opportunity to now reform the palliative and end of life care system, so it’s fit for the future,” said Toby Porter, chief executive of Hospice UK.
Paul Bytheway, chief executive of Birmingham Hospice said that the money was “a boost after a very challenging year”; Elinor Eustace, chief executive of St Giles Hospice in Lichfield, Staffordshire, said that the funds would enable her “to make meaningful improvements to our Inpatient Unit”; and Lisa Hunt, chief executive of Garden House Hospice Care in Letchworth, said that the money would make “a real difference”.
