'We are really struggling': Under-pressure hospices need funding review to avoid cash crisis
A hospice boss is calling for a review of how services are funded to prevent closure in the future.
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Chief executive Claire Towns, of Mary Stevens Hospice, in Hagley Road, in Stourbridge said a rethink is needed as all hospices are struggling due to the way they are funded.
Hospice UK, which represents more than 200 trusts, said many are in financial crisis with at least a fifth cutting services in the last year or planning to do so.
That means the number of inpatient beds are being cut, staff are being made redundant and fewer visits are being made to dying patients in their own homes.
Claire Towns said: "We are running a deficit budget. Funding of hospice services are not in line with NHS funding. We have to raise £2.8m every year which is a lot and we cover all of Dudley borough, not just Stourbridge.
"There needs to be a systematic review of how specialist palliative care is funded. Funds are limited and if we get no more money there will be no more hospice in three or four years' time.
