Willen Hospice joins MPs in Westminster to back Hospice UK’s call for fair funding for hospice care.

Willen Hospice joined parliamentarians in Westminster earlier this week as part of Hospice UK’s national campaign launch calling for urgent reform of hospice funding.

The campaign – Fair Funding for Hospices – sets out a four-point plan to make hospice funding fair, transparent and sustainable, ensuring everyone in the UK can access high-quality palliative and end-of-life care. Willen Hospice Chief Executive, Kate Broadhurst, met with local MPs Callum Anderson, Emily Darlington and Chris Curtis to share how national reform could transform hospice care for people across Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas

.“We’re proud to represent Milton Keynes in Westminster, standing alongsideHospice UK to call for a fair and sustainable funding model for hospice care,” said Kate. “At Willen Hospice, we provide vital support for many local people every year,yet only 12.7% of our costs are met through ongoing NHS funding. The proposed reform would allow us to focus on caring for patients and families rather than constantly bridging the funding gaps.”Hospice UK’s plan calls for:

Full NHS funding for specialist palliative care provided by hospices.
Fair, multi-year NHS contracts that reflect the real cost of services.
Parity in pay awards so hospice staff receive equivalent pay rises to NHS
colleagues.
Fair access everywhere so people’s postcodes don’t determine the quality
of care they can access.

Toby Porter, Chief Executive of Hospice UK, said: “Willen Hospice is a powerful example of why reform is urgently needed. Despite providing exceptional care for its community, it receives barely half the national average in NHS funding. This kind of inequity exists across the country and threatens the sustainability of services that thousands of families depend on. The government must act to create a fair, consistent funding system so every hospice can plan confidently for the future.”

Willen Hospice supports this national approach while continuing to lobby locally for equitable funding from the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Kate Broadhurst added:

“National reform will take time, but change can also start locally. We’re working closely with our ICB, Milton Keynes University Hospital and community nursing partners to secure fairer funding in the short term and ensure every person in the Milton Keynes area receives the compassionate care they
deserve.”

Strengthening financial sustainability through equitable funding is a key pillar of the hospice’s Ready for Tomorrow Today strategy, as its teams work to protect and grow palliative care for people in and around Milton Keynes.

For more information on Willen Hospice’s strategy and how you can support its work, visit

willen-hospice.org.uk/strategy