News
Fund-raising bid as hospice faces crisis
A HOSPICE which has helped thousands of families in their dark- est hours is facing serious cutbacks after a drop in funding. Heart of Kent Hospice has re-
vealed that up to 20 posts may be lost after a period of consultation. Donations through wills have
fallen in the past two years while government funding has dropped by about 9% in five years. Although the charity has managed
to shave £420,000 off its costs this year, it needs to find additional sav- ings of £575,000. The hospice’s an- nual running costs are £5.4m. A spokesman for Heart of Kent Hospice acknowledged the serious- ness of its position but said therewas “no panic” and there would be “no compromise to patient care”. Now the Aylesford-based charity
has launched a campaign to raise £600,000 next year. Chief executive Sarah Pugh said:
“The uncertain economic climate is hitting us hard as the demand for our help and costs rise, but funding is increasingly difficult to secure. “Donations left to us through gifts
in a will, which has always been a vital source of funding, have been particularly low. “Funding from government is also
down in real terms, contributing 25% of our costs in 2011-12 and just 16% in 2016-17. “We depend heavily on our sup- porters, whose donations account for £4 out of every £5 spent on our services, but many are just not able to give as much as they used to. “This means we must now care-
fully review the serviceswe are able to offer in order to ensure the long- term future of our core inpatient, community nursing, outpatient and
emotional support services. “Regretfully, this means there are
likely to be redundancies amongst our workforce. “Our goal is to minimise the im-
pact on patient care and remain true to the principles on which the hos- pice was first founded, providing compassionate end-of-life care, free of charge, to everyone who needs it. “We are appealing to our commu-
nity to Get Behind Heart of Kent Hospice, to help raise an additional £600,000 in 2017.” You can make a donation at
www.hokh.org/donate or text “HOKH17 £5” to 70070.
downsmail.co.uk CQCin call
for changes A NATIONAL review by the Care Quality Commission has found that the NHS is missing opportunities to learn from patient deaths. A report from the quality regula-
tor raises concerns about the quality of investigations led by NHS trusts and their failure to improve care. The CQC review found that there
is no consistent national framework to support the NHS to investigate deaths that may be the result of problems in care, leaving families without clear answers. The review was carried out at the request of the Secretary of State for Health, following the findings of the NHSEngland-commissioned report into the deaths of people with a learning disability or mental health problem cared for by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. The regulator is now calling for a national framework, to ensure that learning is promoted, care is im- proved, and families are listened to. Professor Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the CQC, said: “Families are not always prop- erly involved in the investigations process or treated with the respect they deserve. This was particularly the case for the families of people with mental health problems.”
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