Hospice UK warns of '300 closed beds' in English hospices

The hospice sector's maximum bed capacity in England is around 2,200 inpatient beds, meaning 14% are currently closed.

The new data shows that around 300 beds are not available for patients in England's hospices, having either been fully de-registered, or taken out of operation. The figure accounts for around 110,000 days and nights of care unavailable - before even accounting for further pressures in hospices' community services, where most care is delivered.

Hospice UK, which represents the UK's 200+ hospice sector, has been warning for months of significant pressure as around a fifth of hospices warned of service cuts earlier in the year.

It has called on the Department of Health and Social Care to provide £110 million in urgent funding for England's hospices to prevent further cuts. This funding would stabilise the hospice sector and prevent further cutbacks to hospice capacity, both in terms of inpatient beds and community services for patients at home.

Annette Alcock, Hospice UK's Director of Programmes, said: "This worrying survey lays bare just how much more hospices could do if the long-term systemic challenges they face, like funding and staffing, were resolved. This situation is getting worse not better, and in light of last week's vote on assisted dying, it feels even more of a pressing challenge to resolve.

"Hospice care is not only fantastic for patients and families, it relieves huge pressure on the NHS too. The government is rightly intent on shifting more care out of hospital into the community, and hospices are here to do exactly that for patients approaching the end of their life.

"But the reality is that the way that hospices are currently funded and commissioned by the NHS is acting as a huge cap on what they can do, along with underlying pressures like staff shortages. If the government can act in both the short and long term to resolve these problems, these figures are clear evidence that hospices can do a lot more for patients, and a lot more for the NHS.

"That's true out in the community too, where most of hospice care is actually delivered. With better funding and commissioning, hospices could provide so much more care where people most want it - at home."

Elinor Eustace, Chief Executive Officer at St Giles Hospice in Lichfield, said: “It’s been a profoundly difficult time for St Giles recently and we’ve had no choice but to consolidate our services, reducing our Inpatient Unit beds from 23 to 15 and saying goodbye to a number of valued colleagues.

“The decision to reduce our workforce and bed capacity has been agonising, but the long-term future of St Giles is at its heart. Like many hospices across the UK, we’re grappling with a real-terms reduction in statutory funding, while simultaneously managing significant increases in operational costs.

“We strongly support Hospice UK and advocate for urgent reform of hospice funding, to enable us to continue to provide outstanding end of life care to local people, and their loved ones, where and when they need it. Hospices, like ours, are a critical part of our health and social care system and more must be done, for the sake of our local communities, to make the sector sustainable.”

The data is released following consistent comments made by the Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting and Prime Minister Keir Starmer that more support for hospice care is on the way, with an announcement due before Christmas.

Hospice UK has warned that the recent increase in Employer National Insurance is a "kick in the teeth for a sector already on its knees", and requested £110m in urgent, recurring funding until long-term reform is put in place. 

The charity says that support for the sector must go beyond simply compensating for the tax rise, given much broader and longer-standing financial pressures, most notably the need to match NHS salaries for which hospices receive no additional funding.