I had faith hospice beds would be saved, says mum

A grieving mum said she had "faith something would happen" after the news that beds at the hospice her son died at could stay open for another year.

Anne-Marie Hoare's son Marley, 24, spent the final five days of his life at the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge and died from a rare form of cancer in 2018.

Last autumn, the NHS trust that runs Addenbrooke's Hospital - Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) - announced it would cut £800,000 worth of funding for nine beds at the nearby hospice.

Hoare said it was "incredible news" the hospice had fundraised to keep it going until at least April 2027, with much coming from an anonymous donor.

When the funding cut was made she said: "My family were fuming and my community that supports our fundraising... everyone was really upset but I wasn't upset because I had faith that something would happen."

Arthur Rank provides care and support to more than 3,800 patients a year at its hospice in Shelford Bottom, at the Alan Hudson Centre in Wisbech and in patients' own homes.

CUH said the "very difficult decision" to cut funding was part of "a number of cost-saving measures, including redundancies" to maintain core services.

It said it was "delighted the fundraising campaign has raised enough to keep the nine beds open at Arthur Rank Hospice for another 12 months".

The local integrated care board funds 12 other beds at the site, on Cherry Hinton Road.

Hoare's son died with his family around him and she said: "I can look back nearly eight years later and the love that we got here I'm so grateful for, because I really think it helped the process of grief, which never leaves you.

"It could have been so different. I've seen the contrast - I've been with people I really love that have died behind a blue paper curtain and only two visitors in."

Gary Jones has been a patient at Arthur Rank since New Year's Eve and after being cared for there is due to move into a home.

He felt the CUH funding decision was "disgraceful".

"I shall be making a donation when I leave, not a great amount because I'm not wealthy, but every bit helps," he said.

"I was in a bad way when I came in here, my last legs really, and here I am, going to a nice home to be looked after and I hope it's as good as this place."

The hospice's chief executive Sharon Allen said that while the news of the fundraising was "amazingly welcome", they "recognise the future is still uncertain".

"It does not resolve the longer-term funding issue," she said.

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