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27
Sept
Saint Michael's among hospices warning of cuts and closures
Hospice services across North Yorkshire are at risk of cuts and closure as a multi-million-pound funding crisis deepens, charity chiefs have warned.
The stark warning will be presented to North Yorkshire Council’s scrutiny of health committee next week, with hospice leaders revealing redundancies have already been made and further job losses are planned.
They say the financial position has become “unsustainable” at the same time as demand for end-of-life care is rising.
The concerns have been raised by Tony Collins, chief executive of Harrogate-based Saint Michael’s Hospice and Herriot Hospice, Emma Johnson, chief executive of St Leonard’s Hospice, and Jenny Flinton and Joanne Sayles, co-acting chief executives of St Catherine’s Hospice.
Together, the organisations provide 48 specialist inpatient beds as well as community end-of-life care, outpatient clinics, lymphoedema services, bereavement counselling and family support.
But the hospice leaders say those inpatient beds alone cost about £11.2m a year, while NHS funding amounts to just £4m.
That leaves charities having to find £7.2m through fundraising simply to maintain the beds, before the cost of their other services is taken into account.
In their report, the hospice chiefs warn:
The result is stark: we are being pushed quickly towards decisions that could mean reducing or closing services that patients and families rely on.
They say NHS funding has failed to keep pace with rising wages, National Insurance, the National Minimum Wage and other costs.
Inflationary increase
For 2026/27, the three organisations have been offered an inflationary increase of 2.75 per cent, subject to moving from grant agreements to contracts, while their costs are rising by more than seven per cent.
The report states an additional £744,043 was made available by the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to hospices across its area, but just £76,876 was initially allocated to the three serving North Yorkshire and York.
Saint Michael’s/Herriot received no additional allocation, St Leonard’s was allocated £25,357 and St Catherine’s £51,519 – but the latter allocation was subsequently withdrawn.
Hospice chiefs say they have received no communication about where the withdrawn money has gone.
They say all three organisations are now setting substantial deficit budgets to maintain existing services.
The report warns:
With non-salary costs already reduced to baseline levels, hospices are now being forced into workforce reductions, with redundancies already made and further redundancies being planned.
Inevitably, this increases the risk of service reductions and, in some cases, potential closure.
The hospice leaders also criticise a lack of clarity around the ICB’s approach to end-of-life care and say their proposal for a longer-term funding system based on activity levels has been rejected.
Concluding their submission, they warn: “Without urgent action, the current position will undermine the stability of hospice care across North Yorkshire and York, with direct consequences for patients, families and the wider health and care system.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted the ICB for a response to the comments.
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