Oxfordshire Lib Dem MPs call for action to protect vital hospice services 

The five Liberal Democrat MPs in Oxfordshire are warning of cuts to hospice care for terminally ill patients unless urgent action is taken, they launch a campaign to save our hospices.

The warning comes amid news that 2 in 5 hospices nationally are planning cuts this year, with 50% of children’s hospices saying they may reduce or stop providing end-of-life care altogether unless new funding is guaranteed within six months. More than half of hospices ended the 2024-5 financial year in deficit, with one in five seeing a deficit of over £1m.

In Oxfordshire, lack of funding has been threatening the future of hospices. Helen & Douglas house hospice in Oxford recently had to rely on £44,000 of public donations for urgent roof repairs. 

Sector leaders are cautioning that “time is running out” for hospices across England. The parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee has commissioned an independent evaluation of the state of palliative care in England in response.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran, who chairs the committee said: 

“Doctors across the palliative care sector are sounding the alarm on unsustainable pressures in this service. We can no longer ignore these calls to action.”

The Liberal Democrats are putting pressure on Wes Streeting to step in. They have launched a campaign to “save our hospices” - with calls to end the postcode lottery of care by allocating funding based on need, and for ringfenced funding for children’s hospices. They are also demanding that April’s national insurance hike, which has cost hospices £34m, be urgently reversed, and for additional support to protect bereavement services.

The party’s Care Spokesperson Alison Bennett has tabled a Bill in Parliament on Tuesday (14 October) as part of the campaign, to guarantee universal access to hospices and require the Secretary of State to come clean on the current gap in hospice funding.

Commenting on the campaign, Liberal Democrat MPs Freddie van Mierlo, Calum Miller, Charlie Maynard, Olly Glover and Layla Moran, said:

“The Government must step in now and answer our calls to protect children’s hospice funding, reverse the National Insurance hike that costs hospices £34 million, and make sure funding always matches local need.

“Liberal Democrats are campaigning to save our hospices. No one should face their final days in pain, on a busy hospital ward, or even in isolation, because government ministers aren’t listening to the sector.”