Political opinion with Alison Bennett MP: Let’s end the hospice postcode lottery

Recently, I was very kindly invited to St Peter and St James Hospice’s 50th anniversary Golden Garden Party, where I got to meet staff and trustees, as well as families and supporters. It was a great afternoon celebrating the brilliant care the hospice has provided to our community over the last fifty years.

The talk given by Lead Palliative Consultant, Dr Charlie Skinner, alongside Dr Peter Estcourt, who was the first palliative care doctor at St Peter and St James, was an engaging and insightful conversation about how palliative care has changed since the 1960s. However, it was also interesting to hear that many of their concerns about the future of hospices remain the same.

St Peter and St James are passionate about giving the best end of life care possible to people in our local community. They are very successful in their mission; the families that I met explained that they continue to be part of the hospice family, even though sometimes years have gone by since their loved ones passed away. This is a testament to the care and support that St Peter and St James provide, and it was a pleasure to be able to be a part of celebrating this.

However, the last few years have not been easy for hospices, due to rising costs, inconsistent incomes and a shortage of government funding. I heard similar concerns during a recent meeting with the CEO of St Catherine’s Hospice in Pease Pottage. With on average just 30% of hospice funding coming from the NHS, hospices rely on charitable donations. There is wide regional variation in the money that they do receive from the NHS with St Peter and St James receiving just 13% of their income from the state.

The government’s increases in Employer National Insurance Contributions have added to this financial strain, and despite the Liberal Democrats calling for healthcare providers like hospices to be exempt from these rises, Labour have pressed on regardless.

This is why I proposed a new policy at Lib Dem conference last weekend to protect hospices. It calls for hospices to be exempt from increases in Employer National Insurance Contributions, the establishment of a commission to develop a plan to improve financial stability of hospices, and an end to the postcode lottery of palliative care by allocating funding based on demand.

Supporting people to live and die well is at the heart of St Peter and St James’s work, and they must be given the support and resources to carry out this mission.