A Renfrewshire hospice, which has seen its costs rise by more than £300,000 in the past year, says it needs more cash from the Scottish Government if a palliative care crisis is to be avoided.
Accord Hospice made the cash plea in a bid to avoid the catastrophic funding shortfall expected if the organisation meets the 6.5 per cent wage increase offered to medics in the NHS.
The charity, which employs 80 people, could see its wage bill alone rocket to £3.3 million for 2023/24 if it were to match fund the NHS hike.
Accord made the funding appeal as part of the umbrella group Scottish Hospices which says hospices nationally face a £12m shortfall should they seek to remain competitive employers with the NHS.
Jackie Smart, CEO at Accord and chair of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group is urging the Scottish Government to fill this shortfall and agree a long-term funding strategy.
She said: ”The predicted circa £12m increase in hospices’ wage bill is a small drop compared to the £1 billion investment the Scottish Government is planning to provide for NHS staff pay uplifts over two years.
”We are seeking support in the short term to remain competitive with the salary uplifts applied to NHS pay scales.
“In the long-term, we want to work together with the Scottish Government to allow hospices to develop services in response to the changing needs of the people we serve.”
The appeal comes as Accord reveals it supported more than 1,200 people with end-of-life care in 2022.
Its staff cared for people within its Paisley in-patient unit while colleagues made more than 1,000 visits to people’s homes as part of its Hospice at Home service.
Together with other hospice staff across the country they support 22,000 people a year with end of life care.
Jackie added: “If hospices weren’t here the NHS would be facing paying 100 per cent of the costs of caring for those patients.
“A new national partnership between hospices and Scottish Government would allow hospices to continue to support statutory services to meet palliative care need in their communities.
“This would help deliver equity of access to palliative care across Scotland and ensure hospices are valued as equal partners with shared ownership and shared risk.”
Jackie and her counterparts at Scottish Hospices met with Scottish Ministers last week to voice their concerns for the future as part of a round-table discussion.
The meeting was held ahead of a ministerial discussion about hospice funding on March 14.
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