Julia’s House receives just 8% of its 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). There is no commitment to secure this funding for the future. We cannot afford to lose it.
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.
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.
