LOCAL MP CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION TO ADDRESS HOSPICE FUNDING INEQUALITY

Edward Timpson, MP for Eddisbury, has raised concerns about the funding situation for hospices in Cheshire, highlighting in particular the challenges faced by St Luke's Hospice.

In a recent debate in the House of Commons, Mr Timpson spoke about the critical role that hospices play in providing end-of-life care and support for patients and their families.

St Luke's Cheshire Hospice, located in Winsford, has been providing palliative care since 1988. Its dedicated team includes 162 staff members and 700 volunteers. However, Mr Timpson highlighted that only 12 per cent of the hospice's income is received through the NHS and its Integrated Care Board, which is significantly lower than similar hospices in other regions.

This funding shortfall has caused financial strain, with St Luke's facing a £350,000 deficit in the current financial year—exacerbated by a 60 per cent increase in utility costs.

Mr Timpson emphasised the importance of addressing the funding inequality to ensure that hospices like St Luke's can continue to provide essential care and support to the community. He stressed the need for a sustainable funding formula that reflects the true cost of clinical care and provides hospices with the confidence to deliver their services effectively.

He also called for urgent action to address the postcode lottery of funding for hospices, urging NHS Integrated Care Boards to prioritise funding for hospice-provided palliative care and ensure funding models achieve parity with NHS end-of-life care services while maintaining hospices' independence and flexibility.

In addition to advocating for improved funding, Mr Timpson highlighted the need for better collaboration between Integrated Care Boards, the NHS, and hospices to ensure a sustainable and localised approach to funding allocation. He also touched on the importance of multi-year contracts to provide hospices like St Luke's with the certainty of funding needed to invest, grow, and meet the evolving needs of their communities.

Concluding his speech, Mr Timpson stressed that funding hospices and palliative care is not a political issue, but rather a matter of ensuring that essential end-of-life care services receive the attention and support they deserve.

He reiterated his commitment to working with NHS England to address the funding challenges faced by hospices and to hold the NHS accountable for providing the necessary support.

Edward Timpson CBE KC, Member of Parliament for Eddisbury, commented:

"I was pleased to acknowledge the dedicated work of St Luke's Cheshire Hospice and its staff in this important Commons debate on palliative care funding—as well as the support of local people through their donations and fundraising efforts during especially challenging economic times.

"I am also grateful to Hospice UK for its support in amplifying this call for increased government funding via NHS Integrated Care Boards to strengthen the local approach to hospice funding."

Neil Wright, Chief Executive of St Luke's Cheshire Hospice, added:

“It costs St Luke’s Hospice more than £5 million every year to provide our vital services to hundreds of local people at the most vulnerable time of their lives. However, as one of the least funded adult hospices in the country, we have to rely on the support and generosity of our local community, local businesses, and volunteers to help us raise the vast majority of those funds.

“We are grateful to Mr Timpson for his continued support of St Luke’s, and for highlighting this inequality in funding at both a national level and between hospices in the same local NHS integrated healthcare system.

“The only certain health event in your life is that you will die, so everybody should have equal access to the same level of high-quality end-of-life care. It cannot be right that, in our society, hospices—as leaders in end-of-life care—have to rely more and more on charity to continue providing that care.

“We are not looking to be funded entirely by the state, but we urgently need a new national funding model for end-of-life care to ensure that hospices like St Luke’s can continue to provide their services to local people and their families for generations to come.”

Pictured - Edward Timpson MP, celebrating Marie Curie's Great Daffodil Appeal in Parliament in March.