Covid-19: Charitably Funded Hospices

Lord Addington Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Addington]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, what action they are taking to make sure that charitably funded hospices have sufficient funding to continue to operate.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord Bethell) (Con)]

My Lords, hospices play an often unseen but hugely valuable role in providing patient care. That is why we provided more than £150 million of extra funding to hospices during the first peak, when hospices across the nation cared for 170,000 patients, thereby helping to protect the NHS and continuing to provide high-quality end-of-life care. We recognise that the second wave presents challenges for hospices. We thank Hospice UK, Marie Curie and all the other groups for their engagement on this important challenge.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, it is nice to hear the Government thanking the hospice movement. Some 80% of hospices think that they will have to make redundancies. The voluntary sector takes on more than 75% of hospice treatment. If the Government are not going to fund hospices, will they take on the work themselves or are we just going to let people suffer at the end of their lives?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

The noble Lord is entirely right. Some £1.54 billion is spent on hospices each year. Of that, £1.2 billion is charitable; I pay tribute to those from the hospice movement who were recognised in the recent Birthday Honours List for supporting that fundraising. Let me assure the noble Lord that the challenge he describes is recognised in the department. The Minister responsible will meet key hospice stakeholders, including from Marie Curie, Sue Ryder, Hospice UK and Together for Short Lives, on 4 November when the challenge that he describes will be discussed.