South Tyneside hospice closes

An independent hospice in South Tyneside has closed.

St Clare’s Hospice in Jarrow shut its doors following a decision to enter into insolvent liquidation.

The charitable trust which runs the hospice has said it faced severe financial difficulties for several years, which was made worse by a prolonged period of closure last year, leaving it insolvent.

The hospice has annual operating costs of £2.2m and usually raises £1.8m each year through voluntary giving, with the balance coming from the contracts with the South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The closure of the hospice’s in-patient and day services for four months last year severely restricted fund raising.

Paul Jones-King, the hospice's chief executive, said:

Tracey Bleakley, chief executive of Hospice UK, added: