Hospices 'struggling with debts'

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More than one in four (28%) are now in deficit, according to an analysis of the 2004/06 accounts for 186 of the UK's 194 charitable hospices.

The amount hospices receive also varies hugely - from nothing to 62% of their spend, the report added.

The study, by the charity Help the Hospices, showed that the amount of Government cash hospices receive as a proportion of their spend has been falling for the last three years.

In England, it now stands at 32% of expenditure in adult hospices, having fallen from 34% in 2004 and 33% in 2005. The cash is distributed by primary care trusts (PCTs), who decide how money should be spent locally.

Help the Hospices said the Government was failing to meet its 2005 general election manifesto commitment to "double the investment for palliative care services".

A separate study published last year by the National Council for Palliative Care found that 60% of hospices it studied actually had a real terms cut in funding. Its figures were for PCT allocations for 2006/07.

David Praill, chief executive of Help the Hospices, said: "The donations we get from charity fundraising activities in local communities are already badly needed and cannot be stretched to cover core NHS responsibilities indefinitely as well.

"The situation will only worsen with an ageing population and more and more of us living longer with terminal illness; this issue has to be addressed now."

Most hospices are run by charities and offer services like control of pain and symptoms, nursing care and emotional and practical support. In all, they provide 79% of adult inpatient palliative care beds in the UK as well as day services and care in people's homes.