St Barnabas House hospice will continue to be here for patients and families

We started the year by announcing that we would be merging St Barnabas Hospices (incorporating St Barnabas House and Chestnut Tree House) with Martlets in Brighton. Coming together, we plan to increase our efficiency, combine our expertise, but most importantly keep providing vital palliative and end-of-life care for our communities across Brighton and Hove, and Worthing. 

Over the last couple of months, like you, I read with sadness the news about the closure of hospice beds and the loss of jobs across the country. I know the passion with which our colleagues work, striving to support families at the most difficult but important times in their lives. As anyone who works in the sector will tell you, demand is increasing, costs are increasing, but government funding has simply not matched the pace of change.

Challenging times for the hospice sector

For St Barnabas House, we know our community is concerned about our future too. They are invested and loyal supporters, many of whom have a personal connection to our services. But we would like to reassure all our supporters, patients and their families that we are open and have no plans or need to close the hospice.

The reality is that there is a funding crisis facing the hospice sector, and we are not immune from that. Current funding models are unsustainable, with most hospices – us included – receiving less than 25% of our income from the government. A 2024 ITV documentary has covered the current hospice crisis, you can watch here.

Also like many other hospices across the country, we are facing a challenging situation. Rising costs, a challenging fundraising climate and increased demand have left us with a significant financial deficit that we must tackle as a priority in the next couple of years.

We have robust financial plans in place to address this, and the financial reserves in place to see us through the medium-term. But we will need to identify how we can make savings and increase our income. Our merger with Martlets will help us to make further savings, and we will continue to work in partnership with the NHS to improve the sustainability of the hospices and, of course, patient care.

Thank you for your continued support

We’ve had incredible support for so many years from across our local community – families, businesses, volunteers, media and more – and we’ll need them all now more than ever. We’re so often moved by the dedication of our supporters but equally we are proud to play our part standing side-by-side with them.

All of that said, we are under no illusions that it will be a difficult few years for us and all in the sector, and we will no doubt need to make some hard decisions as we work to balance the books and reach financial stability. But we plan to be here, for everyone that needs us, for many years to come.