The organisation representing hospices in Scotland has welcomed news that the Scottish government is to make an immediate payment to allow salaries of staff working in hospices to be brought into line with their NHS Scotland counterparts. The commitment came in a letter just published from the Minister for Community Care to the convener of Holyrood’s health committee, which had last month heard calls for consistency in how the portion of hospice funding that comes from the Scottish government is agreed and delivered.

£9.4 million was included in this year’s Scottish Budget to deliver pay parity for hospice staff with their Agenda for Change banded counterparts – a figure that had started at £6.5 million but was negotiated up by the Liberal Democrats.

The figure falls short of the £13.3 million that hospices said they needed.

In her letter to the health committee Minister for Community Care Alison Thewliss says the funding “has been provided to hospices via allocations to NHS boards for immediate onward payment to hospices”, adding that the money is being paid through the NHS to “resolve urgent staffing challenges” but that ministers “expect the commissioning relationships between hospices and Integration Authorities to continue as usual”.

In all, 14 hospices as well as Marie Curie’s nursing services across Scotland will receive the funding.

Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager in Scotland for Hospice UK, Helen Malo, says the funding announcement is an important step in recognising the extraordinary support staff give to people and families across Scotland.

Sustainable funding

Last month, Holyrood’s Health, Care and Sport Committee heard in evidence that public funding, at around 40% of the costs of the hospice sector, is too low and too variable and, with demand increasing, a three-year-old government commitment to a national funding framework needs to be honoured.

Rami Okasha, Chief Executive of Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) told the committee that public funding accounts for less than a quarter of the cost of CHAS’s work. He described this as “not sustainable” and added:

“… ultimately, hospice care is a partnership between the Scottish people and the Scottish state. Right now, the Scottish people are stepping up, and we need to make sure that the Scottish state steps up, too.”

One MSP suggested that the current arrangement where hospice services are commissioned by health and social care partnerships means that government funding for hospices doesn’t all go to hospices but is instead ‘top-sliced’ by the integration joint boards.

In her letter, Ms Thewliss acknowledges that ad hoc annual funding decisions are not the answer in the long term:

“Going forward, we remain committed to the development of a new national framework to support more effective planning and commissioning of palliative care provided by independent hospices. We will consider how pay parity funding for future financial years can be incorporated within this work. This provides an opportunity to reflect on the first two years of allocating this pay parity funding to independent hospices, and develop and agree a robust process which supports the calculation and disbursement of this funding in future financial years.”

Helen Malo from Hospice UK says she welcomes the commitment, but that there has to be progress towards making it a reality:

“Pay parity is vital, but it is only part of the picture. Demand for palliative care is growing, yet nearly one in three people in Scotland are missing out on the care they need when they are dying. Hospices are already helping people receive care closer to home, easing pressure on hospitals and supporting the Scottish Government's ambitions for public service reform.

“A sustainable national funding framework, first promised in 2023, would give hospices the certainty they need to plan for the future and reach more people who need their support. We want to work with the Scottish Government to make that happen, so everyone in Scotland can receive the best possible care at the end of life.”

Read more: Why live music belongs in everyday healthcare; One in three missing out on palliative care; ‘Too many missing out’ on palliative care

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