Hospice forced to cut jobs amid ‘unsustainable’ cost crisis

St Giles Hospice is proposing to make significant redundancies in an urgent need to reduce its £1.5m annual budget deficit.

‘Unsustainable’ rising costs have forced the palliative and end-of-life care provider to propose to cut 40 full-time roles – around 15% of its overall workforce.

Financial pressures mean it must now focus on its very core specialist palliative care services or else “St Giles Hospice would cease to exist”.

Whilst receiving a real-terms reduction in income from the NHS, St Giles, which supports patients at sites in Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield and in their own homes, has seen big increases in costs, including the price paid for energy, food and clinical supplies. Voluntary income raised has also been impacted by the current financial climate, as supporters have struggled to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.

Talks have been held with NHS commissioners and the local Integrated Care Board (ICB) to negotiate additional funding, but whilst the ICB recognises the hospice’s value and the risks associated with a reduction in service levels, they also have a funding shortfall and are having to make savings themselves.

It said the hospice sector is facing a national financial crisis and St Giles won’t be the last hospice to announce redundancies.

Robin Vickers, Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “Our teams support patients at end of life, and their families, both at our hospice sites in Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield and in their own homes. The prospect of having to make highly skilled, end of life healthcare professionals redundant, as well as their colleagues who run the charity, is incredibly difficult and is not a decision we are taking lightly. We are doing everything we can to support all our hospice colleagues through this difficult time.

“By making redundancies now, the hospice is ensuring it can return to a sustainable budget as soon as possible. As a charity, we are not underwritten by the government or the NHS, we cannot continue to run a deficit and simply run out of money; if we did, the hospice would cease to exist. St Giles has been supporting our local community for over 40 years and our intention is to be here to support those who need us most in another 40 years. The redundancy process we are going through is part of a wider transformation programme that puts the hospice on the right track to achieve this goal and continue to provide outstanding care in the years to come.

“St Giles has been working with Hospice UK and other hospices nationally to seek support to address the financial challenges across the sector. We have supported national campaigning and the debate on hospice funding in parliament; however, the government response was that funding decisions were a matter for local NHS commissioners (ICBs), and no additional money would be provided. We recognise that the local NHS and its social care partners are in a difficult position, with significant funding challenges themselves. We will continue to work positively with the NHS and other local partners but must also make the decisions required as an independent charity.”

Elinor Eustace, Interim CEO of St Giles Hospice, said: “There is a growing need for palliative and end of life care and the NHS is unable to meet the huge demands on its beds. Most people do not want to die in hospital and hospices provide outstanding services that support people to die in a place of their choosing.

“Whilst St Giles will continue to campaign for fair funding for hospices locally and nationally, in the absence of any additional support, we are not able to delay these difficult decisions any longer. The hospice has also looked to cut non-pay costs and invested in income generation opportunities but, although investing in fundraising and retail operations will help to give the hospice a long-term future, the return will not be at the rate of its rising costs.

“We recognise that this is a period of uncertainty for our workforce and the wellbeing of our staff, volunteers, patients, and families is paramount. Whilst this decision has been very difficult to make, the long-term future of St Giles is at its heart.

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who helps to fund care for local people, and their loved ones, living with a terminal illness – whether that be from taking part in our events, supporting their local St Giles shop, playing our raffles and lottery or gifting their time – the support of our community is vital for our future.”

Toby Porter, CEO of Hospice UK, said: “We are devastated to hear of colleagues being made redundant at St Giles Hospice. These are brilliant staff, committed to supporting patients and families every day.

“St Giles is not the first, and sadly will likely not be the last. This news follows other redundancies and service reductions across the UK’s hospice sector.

“Let’s be clear: redundancies of health and social care staff are simply not acceptable given the huge pressures in our NHS and beyond. Hospices like St Giles are a critical part of our health and social care system. Service reductions only mean that more patients are channelled into overstretched NHS services. It’s counterproductive for St Giles to be forced into this position.

“As a hospice sector, we want to help the NHS. We want to do more. But as is clear from St Giles and elsewhere, that can only happen if hospices are given fair funding for the services they provide on behalf of the state. Let’s hope that more redundancies will alert the government to the need to act, quickly.”