Julia’s House receives just 8% of its ongoing income from Government – one of the lowest contributions to a hospice in the whole country.
Most of this is from the Children’s Hospice Grant, a central Government grant paid via local Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). This is secure until 2029.
Our local funding is a commissioning contract from Dorset ICB for a small proportion of our care costs. We have never been commissioned by BaNES Swindon & Wiltshire ICB despite years of trying, yet the children are just as poorly in both areas. We need the security of a commissioning contract in both counties.
Supporting the NHS
Julia’s House works with the NHS in Dorset, Swindon and Wiltshire, often providing care alongside their clinicians. Hospices save the NHS money by keeping patients out of hospital. National standards also say that parents should be able to choose the best place for their child’s end of life care. But these things can only happen with adequate funding for hospices.
Pay awards, recruitment and retention
When pay rises are announced for NHS staff, contract income for local hospices rarely keeps pace. This puts hospices in a very difficult position. These pay rises ought to be included in local contract rates.
Government policy
The Government is developing a Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care: a new guide for ICBs on commissioning and providing adequate palliative and end of life care. We believe the Modern Service Framework should set out national minimum standards for palliative care, and remedial measures for ICBs that fall below them, to eradicate local inequalities.