SIR - Hospice Care Week is an opportunity to celebrate the importance of end-of-life care and the incredible work being done by nurses, doctors and support workers nationwide.
However, the sector is going through a funding crisis, and government has failed to provide the support it needs. Our research has shown that last year, more money was spent in hospice charity shops than hospices received from government.
Charity shops would have to sell 5,375 pairs of jeans to fund a palliative care nurse for a year and 43,000 blouses to provide a patient with a hospice bed for the same period of time.
While this is proof of the invaluable support provided by retail staff and their generous customers, charity shops should not be responsible for plugging the £60m funding gap each year within the sector.
It's time to hold the government to account over their outdated funding model and call on them to do better by those in need of end-of-life care and their loved ones.
Sarah West, Director of External Affairs, Hospice UK
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