Ashgate Hospice has launched an urgent appeal to save vital end of life care beds after it said it has been forced to announce devastating cuts due to ‘unfair funding’.
In October, the charity revealed proposals to reduce inpatient beds, cut staffing numbers, and scale back some of its services as part of £2.6 million in cuts caused by what it called insufficient NHS support.
The north Derbyshire hospice is now hoping its supporters will back its Save a Precious Bed Appeal [ www.ashgatehospice.org.uk/precious-bed ], which aims to raise £244,000 to keep two – of nine specialist beds earmarked for closure – open for a further six months.
Backing the appeal is Julie Whittaker whose parents, Lynne and Chris Johnson, experienced Ashgate’s ‘comforting’ care first-hand. The couple, married for 52 years, were cared for together in the same room at Ashgate before dying just days apart in February 2024.
Julie, aged 50, from Glapwell, said: “My mum and dad were cared for side by side, in the same room, holding hands until the very end.
“Those two beds meant everything to us – comfort, dignity, and the chance to be together until the very end.
“It breaks my heart to think of other people being turned away and so many of Ashgate’s specialist hospice beds standing empty.”
Lynne and Chris, who met when Chris was the local milkman, were both diagnosed with terminal illnesses in late 2023 – Chris with bowel and secondary liver cancer, and Lynne with a glioblastoma brain tumour.
Julie cared for them at home, supported by Ashgate’s virtual ward and community palliative care teams, who helped manage symptoms and offered emotional support.
But when their conditions deteriorated and their pain became too difficult to control, Ashgate stepped in again, allowing the couple to spend their final days together in the hospice.
Lynne died first – as they lay holding hands – on 13th February, aged 69, and Chris died just over a week later, on 21st February, aged 76.
Julie said: “Without Ashgate Hospice my mum and dad would not have received the care and compassion they needed.
“I cared for them at home for two months, 24 hours a day, but it got too hard to manage their pain. It was such a reassurance knowing they were both being cared for and their pain was under control.
“We will be forever grateful to the staff for everything they did for my parents and for us as a family, both while they were in the hospice and after they died.”
The hospice currently operates 15 of its 21 available inpatient beds, with six already closed due to insufficient funding.
Without urgent support, it says that number could fall by another nine leaving just six beds to serve the whole community and putting further pressure on local healthcare services, including Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
Saving two of the nine beds planned for closure allows around 25 more patients and their families to receive care at Ashgate’s inpatient unit, giving them comfort, dignity, and support at the end of life.
Julie added: “Ashgate Hospice is a vital part of our community. The funding doesn’t just affect patients on the ward – it impacts day services, community care and all the other support the hospice provides.
“Supporting the Save a Precious Bed Appeal means more families will have access to the care and dignity my parents received.
“Every specialist bed counts. Even keeping just two beds open means families like mine can be reassured that they will receive care, safety, and comfort when it matters most.”
Jack Wood, director of income generation at Ashgate Hospice, said: “This is one of the hardest situations we’ve ever faced. It’s heartbreaking that we’re having to fight to keep our beds open – beds that mean the world to local families like Julie’s.
“When someone you love is at the end of their life, knowing they’re cared for with the utmost compassion and dignity means everything.
“By donating to the Save a Precious Bed Appeal, we can make sure more people receive the same compassionate care that Julie’s parents did.”
Amanda Sullivan, chief executive of NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board, said in response:
“We greatly value the work of the hospice sector and we are sorry to learn from Ashgate Hospice about their proposals to cut services.
“We believe the level of funding we provide to Ashgate Hospice is fair when compared with benchmarks for the hospice sector nationally and it is also in line with NHS England guidance.
“Our core contract value with Ashgate Hospice has increased in value by 55% since 2022/23. The request for a multi-million pound increase in funding during this financial year is especially difficult and at a time when the whole health system is under extreme financial pressure, and when no additional services would be provided.
“We have been working with the Ashgate team over several months to understand why their costs have risen so significantly this financial year. We have offered to support Ashgate in reviewing the way care is provided for the North Derbyshire community, working in partnership with health, social care and the voluntary sector.
“We will now work with Ashgate and the rest of the health and care system to mitigate the impact of these proposals.
“The local NHS commissions end of life palliative care from Ashgate, including inpatient bedded care, home visits, day hospice, occupational therapy and physiotherapy, plus other services.
“Local NHS funding represents more than half of the total direct care costs (excluding overheads) of delivering the NHS-commissioned services at Ashgate.
“These arrangements are in line with NHS England guidance and in line with normal practice for hospices, based on benchmarking undertaken by Hospice UK.
“This benchmarking shows that, nationally, on average, Integrated Care Boards fund around 55% of hospices’ direct care costs, excluding overheads.
“It is standard practice for hospices to raise additional funds through charitable donations to support services beyond those commissioned by the NHS and to cover operational costs.”
Julie Whittaker, whose parents died in the care of Aahgate Hospice, spoke to North Derbyshire Radio about why the hospice means so much to her.
