Julia’s House receives just 8% of its income from Government – one of the lowest contributions to a hospice in the whole country.

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William smiling at the camera

Most of this is from the Children’s Hospice Grant relief fund from NHS England, paid via local Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). There is no commitment to extend this national funding for children’s hospices beyond March 2025. We cannot afford to lose this income.

The rest of our Government funding is from a contract from Dorset ICB. We have never yet had a contract from BaNES Swindon & Wiltshire ICB. We need one urgently.

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 health 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, usually contract income for local hospices does not increase accordingly. This puts hospices in a very difficult position. Our national membership, Hospice UK, is pressing for these pay rises to be included in local contract rates.     

We think everyone who needs palliative care deserves a better solution than this. We need consistent funding from one county to the next, and a more stable settlement to support the nation’s hospice care.