North Wales MS Mark Isherwood, who Chairs the Welsh Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Hospices and Palliative Care, is backing calls made by families for better access and more money for Wales' two children’s hospices.
The ‘Family Voices’ report into children’s hospices in Wales, published by Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan Hospices, highlights that Funding in Wales “has been static for a number of years and is currently the lowest statutory contribution of the four UK home nations’’, with just 6% of Tŷ Hafan Funds and 11% of Tŷ Gobaith/Hope House funds coming from the Welsh Government and Local Health Boards.
In Scotland, children's hospices get more than half of their funding from the Scottish government, those in Northern Ireland get 44%, while hospices in England get 21% of their income from the public purse.
Families who depend on the services provided by the two hospices in Wales are therefore urging the Welsh Government to allocate both Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan more funding, something Mark, who is also Chair of the Cross Party Group on Funerals and Bereavement, has long been calling for.
Backing their calls, he said:
“Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan are both fantastic hospices and we are extremely fortunate to have them, but sadly, as the report highlights, funding for them has flatlined for many years.
“This year has been particularly tough for them, with many fundraising events having to be cancelled due to the pandemic. In April the UK Government announced £200 million of additional money for hospices in England, but the Welsh Government announced a far lower equivalent level of emergency funding for hospices in Wales, at just £6.3 million, with only £1.5 million of this allocated to support Wales' children's hospices.
“With the report predicting increasing demand for hospice care and support as an increasing number of children and young people are living longer with life-limiting conditions and complex health and care needs due to advances in medical treatment, I again call on the Welsh Government to urgently review its support for our hospices, including our children’s hospices, in Wales.”