Calls for more Government support for North East hospices as they face spiralling winter costs
The head of a Durham hospice has called for more help from the Government as it faces spiralling costs going into winter.
St Cuthbert's provides end of life care as well as a range of other support including bereavement services.
Amid spiralling costs, chief executive Paul Marriott said that without additional money, he will be faced with difficult choices.
Video report by Helen Ford.
Mr Marriott, who is also the chairman of Hospices North East and North Cumbria told ITV Tyne Tees: "This is a crisis so what we're looking for is the Government to provide additional support, recognising that we can't keep going out to the community to provide this.
“No other part of NHS care is funded in this way, palliative and end of life care is as vital as any other part of the patient journey and should be funded fairly by the NHS."
According to figures from Hospices North East and North Cumbria:
The nine North East hospices require £25 million pounds a year, in total, to fund running costs and services.
On average, 33% of that figure comes from the NHS.
The remaining 67% must be found through fundraising.
Angela Tiffen and her daughter Kelly have collected £1,000 for St Cuthbert's Hospice at a recent coffee morning.
It is a cause close to Ms Tiffen's heart as her mother was cared for by the hospice.
Ms Tiffen said: "Everyone knows how much the hospice means to me.
"I think this year, everyone's aware they'll need as much money as they can.
"People were a lot more generous this year."
However, Paul Marriott is conscious that rising prices may effect some people's ability to donate and that could lead to tough choices.
He said: "If the government doesn't step in I think we'll have some hard decisions to make as individual hospices around how we prioritise our resources in order to keep as many services as we can, open but we may not be able to keep everything open in the way that we have previously."
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “No national government can control the global factors pushing up the price of energy, but we will continue to provide support in navigating the months ahead.
“We have made over £400 million available to hospices since the start of the pandemic to ensure that they can continue delivering quality care to those who need it.
“Hospices may also be entitled to a reduction in VAT, from 20% to 5%, and exclusion from the main rates of the Climate Change Levy on the energy they use for non-business purposes.”
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