Devon hospice boss makes 'devastating' decision to cut back end-of-life services

The clinical director of a Devon hospice has made the "heartbreaking" decision to cut back some end-of-life services.

Hospiscare in Exeter is facing a £2.5 million deficit after being impacted by rising costs and a drop in donations due to the ongoing cost of living.

The hospice, which provides vital end of life care for 1,000 square miles of the county, receives 15% of its funding from its local NHS body - lower than the national average of 27%.

Earlier this year, the hospice's management team made the decision to cut the number of beds on the ward by a third and is now having to make further cuts. This will likely result in staff redundancies.

Ann Rhys, the hospice's clinical director, said: "We’re now in a position that from September, our Hospice at Home teams across our geography are needing to close.

"We are replacing it with a much smaller rapid response service however because the team is smaller they’ll no longer be able to hold them for a long period of time.

"We’ll care for people in those teams for about 72 hours and then we’ll need to forward them on to acute NHS services, our own community teams or for people to come into our inpatient unit here.

"It's absolutely devastating to be pulling back on our services."

Joan was cared for at home by the Hospiscare team before she died. Credit: Family handout

As well as Sarah Smith leading the hospice's public fundraising team, her grandmother, Joan, received care at home during her final days.

Right up to the age of 96, Joan was very independent and it was important to her that she could be cared for at home.

Sarah said: "She [Joan] loved her little bungalow and for us as a family to see her in her own nightie, in her own bed, under her own duvet, just meant the world to us.

"They would come in and brush gran’s hair, put hand cream on her hands, all the things that would’ve been important to gran.

"They allowed her to die in the way that she lived, which was gently, humbly, quietly. And it was a real gift for the family for her to have that.

Hospiscare is facing a £2.5 million deficit. Credit: ITV West Country

Despite NHS Devon giving Hospiscare a one-off payment of £480,000 to help with this year's financial challenges, Sarah said it will not prevent services being cut back.

"It breaks my heart that our services are under any threat because the financial situation we find ourselves in is nothing to do with the beautiful way we’re supported by our local community.

"We are such a well-loved charity and we are so grateful for the support that we receive.

"This is an inequity in the funding that we receive. It is heartbreaking but also makes me angry," Sarah said.

A spokesperson for NHS Devon said: "We recognise the high-level of care hospice teams across the county provide to patients and their families at a hugely emotional time in their lives.

“Each year, we provide financial support to Hospiscare through grant funding. The hospice has flexibility to invest their grant in the services which best meet the needs of their local community."

"The NHS in Devon faces severe financial challenges – for the last two years we have recorded a deficit of more than £40 million and this year we forecast a deficit of £80 million - and we are having to take difficult decisions on spending.

“We recognise many hospices locally and nationwide have faced financial challenges arising from reduced public donations due to the cost-of-living crisis.

"Despite our ongoing financial challenges, we were pleased to agree an extra £480,000 for Hospiscare for 2024/25.

“We are currently working with local partners, including the hospices, to develop a Devon-wide commissioning plan for end of life care across the county."