Mountbatten Isle of Wight deputy CEO, Becky McGregor, has told Isle of Wight Radio: “We’re shocked and reeling for our Island community.”

She appeared live on air this morning (Wednesday, 4 June), talking about £1.4 million in cuts to the Island’s hospice funding, being made by NHS bosses at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board.

Scroll down for a link to a video of her appearance on Topping in the Morning...

• Read more: Health bosses reveal devastating funding cut to Mountbatten Isle of Wight

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Above: Becky McGregor, Mountbatten deputy CEO, right with presenter Emily Wells, at Isle of Wight Radio on 4 June, 2025 

The incoming CEO said the ICB decision “puts us in jeopardy. That’s a scary place to be, to think we will need to lose services for Islanders.”

Mountbatten Isle of Wight stands to lose £600,000 from this Autumn, and a tenth of its overall income in 2026/7. That represents around 40% of its NHS funding, for the next financial year.

Mountbatten Isle of Wight is asking you to write to your MP, Healthwatch Isle of Wight and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, to tell your Mountbatten story. The charity hopes this will demonstrate the far-reaching impact of what could be lost, if the cuts go ahead.

Find addresses of who to write to HERE

Becky told Isle of Wight Radio's breakfast show presenter, Paul Topping: “It’s vital the hospice is here for our community. 

"We want to focus on fighting and overturning that decision. The consequences are we would have to cut services.”

Mountbatten Isle of Wight has been told its money is being reallocated. It has asked the ICB if this is to hospices in Hampshire. Mountbatten Isle of Wight’s Southampton-based sister hospice, Mountbatten Hampshire, is not among hospices getting an uplift from the ICB.

There are significant concerns the decision to cut the Island’s hospice funding has been made without meaningful consultation and discussion.

Above: Deputy CEO Becky McGregor, with the Isle of Wight Radio team.

Becky told Isle of Wight Radio: “In terms of consultation and communication, that hasn’t happened."

How does the funding work and where does the money for hospices come from?

NHS money comes down from NHS England and the Department of Health, to ICBs which purchase services across their region – including a small slice of hospice care.

Over the past decade, Mountbatten Isle of Wight’s funding has been around a third of what it needs each year - around average for hospices across England. Two thirds of funding comes from the Island’s community, including donations, fundraising, grants, gifts in wills and through charity shops.

Above: Mountbatten Deputy CEO, Becky McGregor and CEO, Nigel Hartley, MBE, outside Mountbatten Isle of Wight. 

"Hospice services have to remain local. There’s no question about that."

Becky said: “The members of the ICB board all live in Hampshire. They don’t have experience of the particular needs of the Isle of Wight. Meetings with them have been increasingly online and not in person.

“We are asking questions of the ICB. We will fight for our Island hospice and we need the Island to fight with us.

“I don’t disagree that hospices across the mainland need to be funded well, but that shouldn’t be at expense of Mountbatten. Hospice services have to remain local. There’s no question about that.

"It’s hard enough when people [who are dying] go through their journey early on but, at end-of-life, people need to visit family and friends quickly.”

Watch Becky's appearance on Isle of Wight Radio, 4 June, 2025:

Stand and fight with Mountbatten Isle of Wight.

Write to your MP, Healthwatch and the ICB.

#FightNHSCashCuts to Mountbatten Isle of Wight.

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