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Hospice closes services due to £1.1m funding gap

Tony FisherBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
News imageGarden House Hospice Lisa looks at the camera while standing in a corridor at the hospice. Light brown doors are on both sides of the corridor and behind her. She wears a blue lanyard with the GH white logo on it. She has a pearl necklace and a black jacket over a black top. Her hair is highlighted and shoulder length.Garden House Hospice
Chief executive Lisa Hunt said it was heart-breaking to see the services close

A hospice is closing a number of its services which are funded entirely through charitable income as it faces a projected funding shortfall of £1.1m from April.

Garden House Hospice Care in Hertfordshire said it had taken the "extremely difficult decision" following a recent consultation, which meant it would stop running services including a dementia nurse, minibus transport and a cafe.

The centre, in Letchworth Garden City, blamed rising costs, increasing demand for care and an "exceptionally challenging financial period".

Chief executive officer Lisa Hunt said that "despite exhausting every option to avoid this, we have had no choice" in order to protect its core end-of-life care.

News imageGarden House Hospice Roger sits in a padded chair next to a hospital-style bed, which his daughter is perched on. A wooden table tray is in the foreground in front of his seat. They are chatting to each other. Roger is 92 and wears glasses, a checked shirt and beige cardigan. His daughter has a lime green sweater on with a silver star print and blue jeans.Garden House Hospice
Lisa Hunt said "our patients and service users remain our highest priority"

The charity said it costs about £8.5m a year to run all of its current services.

Those which it is closing include Compassionate Neighbours, the Wellbeing Hubs, the Admiral Nurse (Dementia Service), Healthy Memory Cafe, the Minibus and Transport Service, and the hospice's Schools, Colleges and Youth Outreach work.

Hunt said these services "have touched thousands of lives over many years by reducing isolation" and "strengthening community connections".

She said in a statement on its website that teams were working closely with those affected to "ensure people feel supported and are appropriately signposted to alternative sources of help".

Alongside the service closures, the hospice has made changes and efficiencies across a range of services and back-office functions.

It said this was to protect its core, NHS-commissioned services and continue delivering specialist care.

This includes Inpatient Unit, Hospice at Home, Care Home Support, Rehab and Wellbeing, Frailty Service, and Emotional and Psychological Support.

Hunt said that "taking these decisions now places Garden House Hospice Care in a more sustainable position, helping ensure we can be there for patients and families who need us in the future".

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