{"id":432413,"date":"2026-02-18T14:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/432413\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T14:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:28:07","slug":"st-wilfrids-hospice-in-eastbourne-proposed-service-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/432413\/","title":{"rendered":"St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne proposed service cut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n In March last year, St Wilfrid\u2019s Hospice in Eastbourne announced it will be making redundancies and reducing hours.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n At the time, the organisation said the decision had been made due to a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of salary increases, rising costs and national insurance contributions, with government funding \u201cremaining broadly the same\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n Following this, the hospice has now announced it is proposing to stop its Care at Home service, which provides regular visits to patients at home for personal care.\n<\/p>\n

\n Colin Twomey, CEO at St Wilfrid\u2019s Hospice explained: \u201cOur costs continue to increase whilst our funding is staying broadly the same.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis simply isn\u2019t sustainable. To protect our future and make sure we are here for generations to come, we\u2019re making some difficult but necessary changes.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The decision is part of a review of the hospice\u2019s service and a three year plan which looks to get their finances back on track.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Twomey added: \u201cIt is important that, as a hospice, we live within our means and focus on the specialist care that other services cannot provide for local people.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe NHS is responsible for providing personal care at home for those who are assessed as eligible, including at the end of a person\u2019s life, and does this through various care agencies that exist in our area. We believe our expertise is best used to support these agencies, rather than duplicating their services.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI cannot emphasise enough that this proposal is not a reflection on the Care at Home team members or service; we know that they do a brilliant job and are highly valued by patients. But we can\u2019t afford to provide this type of care.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The hospice has assured staff that the proposal does not affect any other areas of its care, including community and inpatient services, and said it will \u201ctry to minimise\u201d any impact on current Care at Home patients.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe majority of our care happens out in the community, rather than in the hospice building, and this will continue,\u201d Mr Twomey said.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cUnder this proposal, our clinical team, made up of nurses, doctors, healthcare assistants, social workers and therapies teams, will continue to support patients with specialist care at home. Our inpatient unit will continue to operate. And our help and advice line will remain open for patients, families and professionals.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n St Wilfrid\u2019s is currently consulting with affected staff about the proposal and has asked the public to avoid speculating over the outcome.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Twomey also thanked the community for their vital support, which helps to provide the majority of their funding.\n<\/p>\n

\n He said: “Local people have absolutely stepped up when we\u2019ve needed them, and we are hugely grateful. This support is still vital when it comes to local hospice care.\n<\/p>\n

\n “So, I would ask anyone who is able to donate, fundraise, shop with us, take part in an event or leave a legacy, to do so; you support will make a real difference.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The news comes after the Southern Hospice Group – which runs Chestnut Tree House children\u2019s hospice near Arundel, Martlets in Hove, and St Barnabas House in Worthing – announced it would also be proposing changes to its services<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n The group shared that despite an attempt to reduce costs through their merge in 2024, it said it was operating at a deficit (\u00a33.7m), compounded by increased demand and rising costs such as inflation and National Insurance.\n<\/p>\n

\n It said further details on any changes would be announced once the consultation is complete, with any decisions coming into effect from April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In March last year, St Wilfrid\u2019s Hospice in Eastbourne announced it will be making redundancies and reducing hours.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-432413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}