Weldmar Hospicecare has confirmed that they have received formal notification that NHS Dorset is reducing their funding, which will have a financial impact to the level of commissioned income they receive in an already financially challenging climate.
Currently, Weldmar is commissioned by NHS Dorset to provide specialist hands on care in patients’ own homes, usually in the last few weeks of life. Not only does Weldmar subsidise this service by 60% through charitable funds, but the £400,000 of Fast Track Funding is being withdrawn in April 2025.
Caroline Hamblett, Chief Executive of Weldmar Hospicecare, says “We are focussing on the impact that this reduction in NHS funding will mean for us, and will be working with our teams to identify a sustainable position that takes into account the reduction in funding, as well as the increased demand for our services which undoubtably reduces significant pressure on NHS services.
The government’s plans to provide more care in the community will heavily rely on providers such as hospices, which allow people to be surrounded by their loved ones at the end of their lives. We have played a key role over the last few years in keeping people out of hospital by reducing avoidable hospital admissions, and therefore reducing the pressure on the NHS. These patients require specialist care and support at home, provided by hospices and other end of life care providers who understand the complexity of their symptoms and able to support their individual wishes. The decision for this care to be provided by domiciliary agencies instead of specialist providers, such as Weldmar, is disappointing and the reduction in funding will clearly impact the number of people that Weldmar can support when they need it most. We were already subsidising this care by 60% and it is not financially viable nor acceptable to expect us to use charitable funds to fully support this NHS provision with domiciliary care.”
Weldmar has seen a consistent increase in demand for their services, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, with more people wishing to be cared for at home, surrounded by their loved ones and home comforts. Weldmar provides this care, in addition to a range of other services such as bereavement support, physiotherapy and 24-hour care at their Inpatient Unit in Dorchester. All of these services are available, and provided free of charge, across north, west and south Dorset.
Hospice UK data suggests that 300,000 people are supported by hospices across the UK, but collectively the sector is facing a £77 million deficit. They report that adult hospices receive on average on third of their funding from the state, however Weldmar Hospicecare receives just 17% of their overall costs from the NHS.
Caroline says, “Sustainable and reliable funding from the NHS is essential to help fund our vital services, that are available free of charge to the Dorset community. When we already need to raise over £27,000 every single day to keep our services running, the support from our local community, as well as funders and commissioners, has never been more important.
With NHS Dorset withdrawing this funding, alongside the recently announced employer national insurance contribution increase, results in an additional burden of around £600,000, on top of our already forecast deficit of £1M, and we will therefore need to continue to use what reserves we can to continue our vital services to the Dorset community.
We are disappointed that this decision has been made and will continue working on redesigning our services to support as many people as possible, as the additional demand on services continues.”
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