Hospices in Wales are set to receive an extra £2.2m in funding to strengthen the vital end-of-life services they provide.
The Welsh Government has announced that an additional £888,000 per year will go to the two children's hospices, Ty Hafan and Ty Gobaith, while the remainder will be shared by the adult hospice services across Wales.
This is the first time additional statutory funding has been made available to Wales' two children's hospices since 2007.
Before this announcement, the two hospices were given less than 10% of their annual funding from the Welsh Government. In England, the equivalent funding is 21%, in Northern Ireland it is 25% and in Scotland it is 50%.
The Welsh Government confirmed the new funding is part of phase one of the end-of-life care review. The second phase will look at wider end-of-life care provision from April 2022, overseen by the new programme board for end-of-life care.
It has been allocated in the Welsh Government's draft budget and will be distributed on a recurring basis from April 2022 onwards.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: "Hospices are a critical part of our healthcare service in Wales, providing essential care to more than 20,000 people in Wales affected by terminal illnesses each year, helping to prevent avoidable admissions to hospital. More than 85% of that care is provided in the community.
"This has never been more needed than over the last two years when, throughout the pandemic, hospices have been there to support patients, families and carers through the most difficult of times in the most difficult of circumstances.
"We are committed to strengthening our focus on end-of-life care and we will continue to work closely with the new national programme board to drive actions across government and with stakeholders to improve end-of-life care services for all."
The two children's hospices will now receive around 21% of the costs of providing palliative care to children and families in Wales - bringing it in line with England - with the rest coming from donations.
Ty Hafan, which supports more than 270 families and needs £4.5m per year to run its services, said the extra funding will enable the two hospices to recruit more nurses, extend the range of services they provide and offer more respite care for those families who desperately need it.
Chief executive Maria Timon Samra said: "Together with Ty Gobaith we have been campaigning for a sustainable funding solution for Wales' children's hospices. We are delighted by the Welsh Government's commitment to act on the recommendations of the hospice funding review, an important first step in achieving this goal.
"We thank the minister Eluned Morgan, deputy minster Julie Morgan, and members from across the chamber for their support for this Lifeline Fund, not forgetting those government officials who have also worked on this review.
"We look forward to continuing to work with them to create a Wales that is more compassionate and supports children with life-limiting conditions and their families for whom our hospices are often the only place they can receive crisis and respite care and support."
The calls for a Lifeline Fund for Wales' children's hospices stemmed from the Family Voices Report which was jointly commissioned by Ty Hafan and Ty Gobaith. As part of it, children and their families described the two hospices as their "lifeline".
Andy Goldsmith, chief executive of Ty Gobaith, said: "I'd like to thank the Welsh Government to responding to our ask for fair and sustainable funding for Wales' two children's hospices.
"This increased funding is a major first step forward in ensuring the 'lifeline' that children's hospices provide is available for every child and family that needs us. We look forward to continuing to work with the Welsh Government to fund and develop services to meet the growing and changing need for the specialist care and bereavement support that both Ty Gobaith and Ty Hafan provide in Wales."
Before the pandemic started, approximately two-thirds of hospices' income came from fundraising activities.
The Welsh Government's emergency funding of £13.8m was used to support hospices as they lost income from charitable activities; protect their core services and to strengthen bereavement support.
The end-of-life care review was led by a NHS Collaborative team which analysed information submitted by hospices and held regular meetings to keep them informed of progress.
Marie Curie associate director for Wales Rachel Jones said: "We are pleased to see the recognition of the continued challenges of hospice funding in Wales with this announcement today from the health minister and are grateful that the Welsh Government has worked in partnership with the sector to undertake this review.
"Over the past two years, we and our charity colleagues have faced an inability to carry out our usual fundraising activities, which rely so much on people being able to leave their homes and come together to support us in a variety of different ways.
"Now, at a time when our largest annual fundraiser, the Great Daffodil Appeal, is about to launch following two years of cancelled collections, this news is welcomed, but there is also more that needs to be done. A sustainable model of funding - which does not rely on supermarket collections and bake sales – which allows everyone to have access to good end of life care is vital.
"With that in mind, Marie Curie looks forward to continuing to collaborate with the Welsh Government and our commissioners in health boards on the wider phase two review of funding for the rest of end of life care across Wales.
"We are fully committed to continuing to provide compassionate care to as many dying people as we can, serve the public, and support our colleagues in the NHS in Wales both through and after the pandemic."
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