A huge thank you to Toby Porter, CEO of Hospice UK, for taking time out of his incredibly busy schedule to visit us here at St Margaret’s Hospice today. Toby has quite literally spent the last 48 hours traversing the country, in his mission to raise awareness of our incredible sector and advocating for fairer funding for all hospices.
It was a pleasure to spend a couple of hours with Toby, sharing with him our work here in Somerset, and explaining how we take the time to care for the whole person – physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, and practically – as well as supporting those around them too, their families, friends, carers, and health professionals.
As hospices across the UK face growing demand on their services, while costs continue to rise, Hospice UK, the national representative for the sector, estimates that 2 in 5 English hospices are planning cuts this year, and 20% ended last year with a deficit of over £1m.
St Margaret’s is in a stable position thanks to the ongoing generosity and support of our community, but without a fairer and more sustainable funding model, it will become increasing difficult to safeguard hospice care for our community into the future. Our new five-year strategy, Time to Care – Now & Always, recognises the challenges ahead and sets out how we can address this by raising our voice, enhancing our care, and crucially, stewarding our resources.
That’s why working alongside organisations like Hospice UK and adding our voice to the collective call to Government for long-term reforms is so important. Change will only be achieved if we can demonstrate the impact hospices have in local communities throughout the UK, and are part of the solution, while expertly placed to help the NHS meet its new 10-Year plan to shift more care into the community.
Our thanks to Toby and Hospice UK for their ongoing campaigning work, and to you our community, for continuing to stand by us as we strive to deliver high quality, compassionate care so more people can live fully and die with dignity.
– Jo Hall, CEO of St Margaret’s Hospice Care
