Hospices are in retreat' The funding crisis devastating Britain's palliative care sector

At the end of 2023, St Catherine's hospice near Crawley, West Sussex, moved to a new purpose-built building.

- Harriet Sherwood

Twenty-four private rooms with en suite bathrooms and French doors leading to individual terraces were designed to make the final days of a patient's life as peaceful as possible. Medical equipment was concealed, beloved pets were welcome to visit, and a drinks trolley came round each evening.

The hospice had cost almost £20m to build and equip, every penny raised by donations, legacies, charity events, trusts and foundations. The land was a gift from a local businessman.

Fifteen months later, half the rooms are mothballed and 40 jobs have been lost. Patients have to meet a higher threshold for admission, and a 24-hour helpline for those caring for dying people at home has been reduced to eight hours a day, Monday to Friday.

The cuts are the result of a funding crisis shared by most in the palliative care sector. "Hospices are in retreat," said Giles Tomsett, the chief executive of St Catherine's for the past 11 years.

This was happening, he pointed out, just as the baby boomer generation was about to need end-of-life care on a significant scale.

According to Hospice UK, a body that represents more than 200 hospices, many have had to make "tough decisions" about the services they provide. Last year, one in five hospices warned of service cuts, and 300 beds have been taken out of commission.

In recent months, St Michael's in Basingstoke, Hampshire, has said its future is uncertain because of "unprecedented financial pressures". The 26-bed Marie Curie hospice in Liverpool closed temporarily last summer, but may never reopen.

Three hospices in North Yorkshire have warned that job losses and cuts to services may be needed. St Giles in Lichfield closed eight beds and cut 21 jobs. Dorothy House in Somerset has said that without support for staffing costs, it will be forced to cut services.