A statement by Mountbatten CEO, Nigel Hartley MBE, in light of today's government hospice funding announcement (read the story via the BBC, HERE):

“Mountbatten acknowledges today’s positive and timely government announcement to award £100 million to hospices across the country, this year and next. It is described as ‘the biggest investment into hospices for a generation’.

“The government says the extra funding will go towards helping hospices improve buildings, equipment and accommodation, including refurbishing bedrooms and bathrooms, providing overnight facilities for families, improving IT systems, easier data sharing and improving gardens and outdoor spaces.

“Mountbatten is proud of our Isle of Wight hospice and John Cheverton Centre and community café. Like many other hospices it includes high-quality spaces, state-of-the-art clinical areas and award-winning gardens."

“In today’s statement, there is a passing reference to developing better outreach services, to support people in their own homes when needed.

“While Mountbatten is grateful to hear some funding will be made available for the critically important hospice sector, the devil will be in the detail and this will not be made available until the new year.

“There appears to be no mention in today’s announcement about funding to retain our existing clinical staff or to employ new clinical staff, in order to support the growing number of people who need hospice care. There is no promise to cover the costs of forthcoming National Insurance increases, future NHS pay awards and the growing demands on services, which become more critical, year-on-year.

“At Mountbatten, there has been a 250 per cent rise in people receiving care at home in recent years and this is set to rise further.

“The government says it is committed to moving healthcare into the community. It says the palliative and end-of-life care sector, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift."

“Mountbatten already delivers these services 24/7, in homes across the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, and utilises huge amounts of charitable income towards this, as current NHS funding is not sufficient to sustain the level of need, let alone to expand.

“There are already times when we cannot respond in the way we want or in the ways people need and deserve, because we simply do not have the staff resources to do it. It is not an option to ignore those at their most vulnerable.

“We are happy the government has highlighted the exceptional and much-needed work of hospices and are grateful for their response to the urgent need. However, we eagerly await more about what today’s announcement will mean in reality and would urge the government to ensure it invests in skilled hands-on staff — expert nurses, doctors and community care teams — enabling hospices to employ more such staff in the future, alongside buildings and infrastructure.

“Being able to afford skilled staff must remain the priority, for the immediate and foreseeable future.”