Do childrens hospices get any government funding?
Children’s hospices across England are about to receive a life-saving cash injection from the government. This short-term fix came in response to the financial crisis faced by children’s hospices as a result of the end of Big Lottery support. Over the past few years, children’s hospices in England have received only 2.7% of their income from the government. Although this funding increases that percentage, children’s hospices still rely overwhelmingly on public support for the vast majority of their funding. To put children’s hospices’ on a firmer footing for the future, the government has commissioned an independent review of the long-term funding of children’s hospices and other palliative care services in England. In a recent press release (issued at the end of October 2006), Barbara Gelb, Chief Executive of Children’s Hospices UK said that despite this emergency funding and commitment to a long term review, “We’re by no means out of the woods yet. Children’s hospices still have to r
