Join Hospice UK’s campaign to protect hospice services

Hospice UK’s current national campaign to protect hospice services and their support for the NHS has received widespread media coverage and public support since last summer. With hundreds of new MPs and a new government in place, we’re backing Hospice UK’s campaign to ensure that every MP understands the importance of hospice care.

St Luke’s Hospice is one of over 200 charitable hospices across the UK providing care to 300,000 people each year living with long-term illnesses or approaching the end of their lives and 59,000 of the people close to them. Our essential care is mostly funded through fundraising with on average, a third of our income coming from NHS statutory funding.

Rising costs over several years have meant hospices across the UK, including us, are facing growing financial pressure. We have seen significant increases in costs such as medicines, energy, and food – all areas where costs can’t be reduced without significant impact on our services and patients.

Statutory funding has not kept pace with rising costs and changing need, and our already-generous local communities are unable to meet the shortfall.

Hospice sector finances are the worst they have been for 20 years and many hospice charities are being forced to cut services, close inpatient beds and make vital staff redundant. This is happening at a time when hospice services are needed more than ever.

Hospices are vital to keeping people out of hospital and reducing pressure on the NHS. The number of people in the UK needing palliative care is also expected to increase by at least 25% by 2048. A strong and well-integrated hospice sector will be key to meeting this growing need. 

In 2023/24, 43% of our admissions to our inpatient unit were from Northwick Park Hospital, our local Trust. Therefore, St Luke’s makes a significant and essential contribution to reducing pressure on the NHS and keeping people out of hospital through both our inpatient unit and our specialist palliative care community team who support people in their own homes.

St Luke’s Hospice has also seen increasing demand for our services. We have expanded our ‘day services’ including social work services, support for carers, and our bereavement support services which are in increasing demand from our communities. Increasingly, we are also supporting people at end of life who have no support network, providing a vital care and community for those who have none and are at their most vulnerable.

In July, Lindsey Bennister, Chief Executive of St Luke’s Hospice, wrote to local MPs, inviting them to visit one of our services in the constituency to discuss the challenges we face as a hospice and explore ways to improve people’s end-of-life experiences with the right support. MPs were also encouraged to engage with Hospice UK to discuss how the new government can protect hospice services and recognise their value to the NHS.

Now we are encouraging you to write to your local MP too. Just click the link below and fill in your name and address. The form will automatically find your MP and generate a letter for you, all you need to do is hit send.

Write to your MP today to tell them about the UK hospice funding crisis | Hospice UK

Thank you for your support. Together we can make a difference to those needing end of life care in our community.