Jess Brown-Fuller calls for action to protect Chichester’s vital hospice services

 Jess is warning terminally ill patients across the country are now facing cuts to vital hospice care, as they back a Liberal Democrat campaign in Parliament to save our hospices. 

Jess has backed a Liberal Democrat campaign in Parliament to protect local hospice services, warning that many “are on the brink of collapse unless Government ministers step in now.” 

The warning comes amid news that 2 in 5 hospices nationally are planning cuts this year, with 50% of children’s hospices saying they may reduce or stop providing end-of-life care altogether if new funding is not guaranteed within six months. More than half of hospices ended the 2024-5 financial year in deficit, with one in five seeing a deficit of over £1m. 

In Parliament, Jess raised the issue of the increased costs that St Wilfrid’s faced following the 2024 budget and the rise in National Insurance payments. She called on the government to exempt the health and social care sector from these increases, a request that was not heeded. 

Sector hospice leaders are cautioning that “time is running out” for hospices across England. 

The Liberal Democrats are putting pressure on Wes Streeting to step in. They have launched a campaign to “save our hospices” - with calls to end the postcode lottery of care by allocating funding based on need, and for protected ringfenced funding for children’s hospices. They are also demanding that April’s national insurance hike, which has cost hospices £34m, be urgently reversed, and for additional support to protect bereavement services. 

Jess has also written to Wes Streeting in a joint letter alongside other Liberal Democrat MPs, urging him to end the postcode lottery of hospice care and prevent the devastating erosion of services.

The party’s Care Spokesperson Alison Bennett will table a Bill in Parliament this week as part of the campaign, to guarantee universal access to hospices and require the Secretary of State to come clean on the current gap in hospice funding. 

 Jess said:

 “Hospices in the UK are at breaking point, with staff being laid off and entire wards turning their lights off. St Wilfrid’s is a key pillar of care available in Chichester and we can’t stand idly by, and watch Chichester families pay the price. 

“The Government must step in now and answer our calls to protect children’s hospice funding, reverse the National Insurance hike that costs hospices £34 million, and make sure funding always matches local need. 

“Liberal Democrats are campaigning to save our hospices. No one should face their final days in pain, on a busy hospital ward, or even in isolation because government ministers are asleep at the wheel.”