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Jess Brown-Fuller Visits St Wilfrid's Hospice to Champion Sustainable Hospice Funding
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
On Friday 12 June, Jess Brown-Fuller visited St Wilfrid's Hospice in Bosham, an incredible provider of palliative care for our community, where just 16% of costs are covered by the NHS and the remainder is raised through fundraising.
St Wilfrid's Hospice supports people across the local area with specialist palliative care, both within the hospice itself and out in the community, ensuring that patients and their families receive compassionate, dignified support at one of the most difficult times in their lives. Like hospices across the country, St Wilfrid's relies heavily on the generosity of local fundraisers to keep its services running.
During the visit, Jess heard more about the care delivered at the hospice and in the community, and learned about Hospice UK's national campaign for sustainable hospice funding. Hospice UK, the charity representing hospice care across the country, is calling for a review of the funding of the specialist palliative care that hospices provide, proper NHS contracts for hospices, funding to cover NHS-equivalent pay rises so that hospices can remain competitive employers, and national accountability to ensure equitable access to palliative care wherever people live.
Jess also took part in the subsequent St Wilfrid's Moonlight Walk, joining hundreds of local walkers to raise funds for the hospice.
Speaking after the walk, Jess said:
"St Wilfrid's Hospice provides extraordinary care to our community, often at the most painful and vulnerable moments in people's lives, and it is humbling to see how much of that care depends on the generosity of local fundraisers rather than proper NHS funding.
It cannot be right that hospices, which deliver such vital specialist care, are left to rely on public generosity to make up the shortfall. I am proud to have taken part in the Moonlight Walk alongside so many people who care about this incredible local charity, and I will keep pushing for the funding and recognition that hospices like St Wilfrid's deserve."
