Protect the South West’s vital hospice services
Bristol Liberal Democrats are warning that terminally ill patients across the country are now facing cuts to vital hospice care, as they back a Liberal Democrat campaign in Parliament to save our hospices.
Liberal Democrats in Bristol are backing the party’s campaign in Parliament to protect local hospice services, warning that many “are on the brink of collapse unless Government ministers step in now.”
The warning comes amid news that 2 in 5 hospices nationally are planning cuts this year, with 50% of children’s hospices saying they may reduce or stop providing end-of-life care altogether if new funding is not guaranteed within six months. More than half of hospices ended the 2024-5 financial year in deficit, with one in five seeing a deficit of over £1m.
The children’s hospice-at-home charity, Jessie May, was forced to launch an emergency appeal over the summer to plug a £300,000 funding gap. Operating across the South West and supporting around 50 children in Bristol, the charity offers vital care and support in family homes of children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. Like so many others, the charity has been impacted by continued hospice sector cuts, a lack of subsidies from Government, and Labour’s hike in employer’s national insurance contributions. But while the cost of providing care continues to increase, so does the demand for it.
Sector hospice leaders are cautioning that “time is running out” for hospices across England.
The Liberal Democrats are putting pressure on Wes Streeting to step in. They have launched a campaign to “save our hospices” - with calls to end the postcode lottery of care by allocating funding based on need, and for protected ringfenced funding for children’s hospices. They are also demanding that April’s national insurance hike, which has cost hospices £34m, be urgently reversed, and for additional support to protect bereavement services.
The party’s Care Spokesperson Alison Bennett MP will table a Bill in Parliament this week as part of the campaign, to guarantee universal access to hospices and require the Secretary of State to come clean on the current gap in hospice funding.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Stephen Williams (Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze) said:
“Bristol is very fortunate to have St Peter’s Hospice and the nearby South West Children’s Hospice. They are both well supported by local charity fundraising, so it is infuriating that local efforts are undermined by national government.
“The Government must step in now and answer our calls to protect children’s hospice funding and reverse the National Insurance hike that costs hospices £34 million, and make sure funding always matches local need.
“Liberal Democrats are campaigning to save our hospices. No one should face their final days in pain, on a busy hospital ward, or even in isolation because government ministers have failed to see hospices as an essential part of compassionate end of life care.”
Notes to Editor
- For more information on the Liberal Democrat campaign, see here.
- Hospices rely on a mix of funding, with around a third coming from the NHS and the rest dependent on charitable donations. The cost-of-living crisis has reduced donations, and rising costs have contributed to a £47m funding shortfall nationally between 2022 and 2024. No new emergency support beyond capital funding has been announced.
- The number of people dying in a hospice has risen from 26,566 in 2020 to 29,772 in 2024: ONS, Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional, 2020 edition; ONS, Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales, provisional,2024 edition.
- 2025 is set to see a higher number of people die in a hospice versus 2024.
- 2024 saw an average of 572 people a week die in a hospice, while 2025, has so far seen an average of 611 people a week die in a hospice (up to the 5th of September data set).
- Initial Hospice UK statement on 2 in 5 hospices cutting services this year.
- NICs impact on hospices here.
- Figures on real terms cuts for hospices here.