Responding to the news that a long-term plan to fix hospice funding was not included in the NHS 10 Year Plan, published today, Luke Taylor, MP for Sutton and Cheam, said:

“This is a huge oversight – the hospice sector has been calling for a proper long-term funding arrangement for years and they have been forgotten once again.

“After years of neglect, hospices like St Raph’s in North Cheam are facing a huge budget gap, making them far too reliant on private donations to keep running their essential service.

“Specialist palliative care is so important for proper local healthcare – there is no path to fixing our broken healthcare system without it.

“Next week I’ll be presenting my Hospices and Healthcare (Report on Funding) Bill to Parliament, which calls on the Government to review options for long-term funding for hospices.

“I hope they can take that opportunity to right this wrong and finally sit up and listen.”

Picture: Luke Taylor MP meeting with CEO of St Raphael’s Hospice Rebecca Trower in December last year.