Welsh hospices’ offered funding lifeline

Wrexham’s Member of the Senedd has welcomed the news hospices in Wales will receive an extra £2.2m as part of the Welsh Government’s end-of-life care review.

Hospices have operated under incredibly challenging circumstances during the pandemic and Lesley Griffiths MS believes the additional investment is vital to help ensure the specialist services are available to all that need it.

Of the funding, £888,000 will go to Wales’ two children’s hospices – Ty Hafan and Ty Gobaith. The remainder will be shared by the adult hospice services across Wales.

Pre-pandemic, approximately two thirds of hospices’ income came from fund raising activities. However, the need to implement lockdowns and a range of other restrictions on society throughout the pandemic has meant that funding stream was severely hampered, with events being cancelled, campaigns being paused and charity shops closing.

The Welsh Government stepped in and allocated almost £14m of emergency funding to support Welsh hospices throughout the pandemic.

Now, following an end-of-life care review, the Welsh Government has announced an additional £2.2m will be made available to Welsh hospices.

Lesley Griffiths MS said: “Hospices play such a crucial role in society, providing invaluable care to patients, families and carers through the most difficult of times.

“We all appreciate the support offered by hospices and recognise just how challenging this period has been for the sector. I’m sure this latest round of Welsh Government funding will be welcomed and I am pleased local hospices and, therefore, local residents will benefit.”

This latest announcement 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.

The funding has been allocated in the Welsh Government’s draft Budget and will be distributed on a recurring basis from April 2022 onwards.