Hospice Funding in Crisis as MPs Push Assisted‑Dying Bill

Diagnosed with late-stage cancer, my poor Mum had a fall at home and broke her hip.  An operation fixed her hip, but she resisted physio to get her walking again and endured a grim time stuck in the orthopaedic ward at King Georges NHS Hospital, Ilford.  At her lowest ebb she was lucky to be helped by the amazing MacMillan cancer nurses who managed to get her transferred from the hospital to the fantastic Saint Francis Hospice, in Havering-atte-Bower, Essex.  She went from a noisy, dark orthopaedic ward to a new ward at the hospice which was full of light, fresh flowers, views of the garden and best of all a drink trolley every evening at 6pm.  She received superb palliative care and enjoyed her final days in comfort with her loved ones around her.       

My Mum passed away in 2010.  At that time it was generally accepted that you went to a Hospice and stayed as long “as needed”.  Only in exceptional cases were patients discharged back home.  Since the times have changed – with Hospices now more typically giving shorter periods of respite care and very sick patients with very limited life expectancy being discharged back to home into the care of their family.  

As Parliament debates new assisted‑dying legislation, Hospices are worryingly facing huge financial problems with many mothballing rooms, cutting staff, and turning away dying patients in need of vital end of life care.

At St Catherine’s near Crawley—an ultra-modern £20 million facility—half of its private rooms have been closed and 40 jobs cut since opening, with admissions thresholds raised and community-led services scaled back.  Similar stories emerge from St Michael’s hospice in Basingstoke and the Marie Curie unit in Liverpool, both warning of potential closures.

Hospices typically get a third of their budgets from Government grants.  The rest comes from donations, charity shops, and legacies.  The Treasury has recently increased funding by around £100m, but this funding is largely earmarked for capital improvements—not the day-to-day ever increasing operational costs such as staffing, utilities, or wages.  Hospice leaders have warned Government  that, without a long-term model, their operations will continue to deteriorate just as demand for palliative care escalates with an aging population.

Against this backdrop, MPs are preparing to vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would allow assisted dying for terminally ill adults.  While proponents argue it enhances choice, critics highlight the exposed imbalance: the right to assisted death may be a good idea in theory, but the much-needed expansion of palliative support remains a non-starter.  Until the palliative‑care crisis is resolved, legalising assisted dying risks privileging one form of choice while neglecting another: the right to proper, dignified end‑of‑life support.