Extra funding support for hospices

Hospices across Wales will receive further funding support as landmark national commissioning guidance is agreed.

The £4.3m support package from the Welsh Government will provide financial relief to children’s and adult hospices to help meet rising costs.

The national commissioning guidance for the first time sets out a consistent approach to commissioning hospice and palliative care services.

These reforms set the direction for a streamlined national commissioning model from April 2027, which will address inequity and variation in access to hospice and palliative care across Wales.

Around 35,000 people die in Wales each year, with up to 29,000 people having palliative care needs often delivered through hospices.

However, the sector faces ongoing financial challenges, alongside significant variation in access to services, with around a quarter of people in Wales currently lacking access to a hospice or equivalent specialist palliative care support.

The one-off stabilisation grant will help hospices providing commissioned NHS care manage significant financial pressures, including rising energy costs, workforce shortages and increasing demand and complexity of care.

It brings Welsh Government investment in hospices to more than £25m over this Senedd term.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles, said: “Hospices provide valued and trusted care to thousands of people and families at the most difficult time in their lives. They enable people to spend their final days with dignity, comfort and compassion, surrounded by those they love.

“This grant will provide immediate support to help hospices continue their vital work. With the new commissioning guidance, we are laying the foundations for a fairer, more sustainable future for hospice care in Wales; one where funding is more predictable, services are commissioned based on need, and every person has access to high-quality end of life care.”

National Clinical Lead for Palliative and End-of-Life Care, Dr Idris Baker, said: “The new commissioning guidance is a major step forward, setting a clear and consistent approach to how hospice care is planned and funded across Wales.

“Hospices are a vital part of the palliative and end-of-life care system, bringing specialist expertise, compassion and support to people, families and communities when it matters most.

“This funding provides important stability for the sector now, while the guidance lays the foundations for a more sustainable and equitable future, helping ensure that access to high quality care is based on need, wherever people live.

“Our focus now is on implementation and the next phase of work to strengthen equity across Wales, including developing a whole system approach to specialist palliative care commissioning. By building on this progress, we can reduce variation, improve access, and ensure services work seamlessly together to meet the needs of people and families across all settings.”

‘Welcome news’

Chief Executive Officer of City Hospice, Dr Liz Booyse, said: “This funding is welcome news for hospices across Wales. Like many in our sector, we have been navigating achallenging financial landscape.

“This stabilisation grant will support City Hospice as we continue to provide specialist care to patients and families who need us most.

“We also welcome the new commissioning guidance, and Welsh Government’s commitment to establishing a long term sustainable hospice sector in Wales, working in partnership with hospices, to ensure we can be there for our communities for years to come.”

Matthew Brindley, Policy and Advocacy Manager for Wales at Hospice UK, said: “The funding and commissioning approach announced today are a welcome step on the journey towards fully securing the future of the essential palliative and end of life care provided by Welsh hospices.

“In the past year alone we have seen the closure of Shalom House Hospice in Pembrokeshire, and a unit being shut temporarily in Holyhead, while other hospices across Wales have been dangerously near to closing services too.

“This £4.3m grant means Welsh hospices will have some stability going forward – but we have to look further than the next 12 months.

“If we want to safeguard these essential cornerstones of the health and care system for years to come, we need to ensure the ambitions of the commissioning approach become reality. This means establishing clear actions and timelines for delivery over the next two years. It also means Welsh Government must move from interim financial support to providing sustainable funding for hospices through its annual budget.

“As a sector we want to do what is best for adults and children across Wales, by continuing to deliver specialist care for as many people as possible, now and in the future.”