PROSPECT Hospice has joined calls for fairer funding to the palliative care system, following the release of a report which says funding remains "patchy".

The report, from the Hospice UK and Together for Short Lives organisations, says charitable hospices in England care for around 360,000 people each year – 120,000 patients and 240,000 family members – providing 26 million hours of care and potentially saving the NHS and social care millions of pounds every year.

But Funding for hospices from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local authorities in England remains patchy and inconsistent, it says, and after more than two thirds of the hospices surveyed reported their statutory funding was frozen or slashed in 2014/15 due to financial restrictions, the charities called for the Government to establish fair and sustainable statutory funding for hospice and palliative care.

A spokesman from the Wroughton-based hospice said: “Prospect Hospice works closely and shares very good relationships with our commissioning partners in Swindon and Wiltshire, and are glad to have achieved new funding for some of our services in the last year. We know that, nationally, this is far from typical.

“We welcome the report highlighting the uncertain national picture for hospices and children’s hospices, and add our voice to the call for a new, sustainable and fair funding system for palliative care.

“Hospices play a pivotal role in providing and supporting end-of-life care for local NHS trusts, and an uncertain funding position inhibits our ability to plan effectively to meet long-term need.

“It is a fact that demand for services like ours will grow as more people live longer. As we plan for the end-of-life care environment we anticipate ten years from now and beyond, we want to be certain that we will be able to meet the ever-increasing need, without further extending our over-reliance on the generosity of our local community.”

Results from the survey of 117 hospices showed 17 per cent of hospices had their funding reduced while 52 per cent said funding had remained static.

Almost three quarters (74 per cent) of hospices expected funding to be frozen or cut during this financial year and many warned dwindling statutory funding would mean they could not provide the same range of services in future.

Jonathan Ellis, director of policy and advocacy at Hospice UK, said: “NHS funding for hospice care is continuing to be squeezed, yet demand for hospice care continues to rise and will grow even more in the future, due to the UK’s ageing population."

“CCGs should be investing in hospice care which can help the NHS to cope with increasing demand, such as reducing the number of people who are in hospital at the end of life, with no need to be there. Freezing or cutting funding is both short-sighted and potentially damaging.

“Failure by the NHS to act will be storing up huge problems for how our society supports terminally ill and dying people in the future.”