![\"Queenscourt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_BHR_LEC_080426_QUEENSCOURT.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe hospice was officially opened by Princess Diana<\/p>\n
Queenscourt Hospice, Southport<\/p>\n
A Merseyside hospice faces closure should it fail to raise \u00a32m. Queenscourt Hospice in Southport<\/a> said last month it was forced to consider reducing services for patients, as it continues to operate with the multi-million deficit.<\/p>\n Officially opened by Princess Diana a year after its launch and based in Kew, Southport, Queenscourt offers care for patients at the end of their lives, with the hospice also supporting families members. It has now said it faces it’s toughest financial challenge in its history.<\/p>\n The hospice has announced it has been forced to reduce its in-patient ward from 10 beds to five as it battles financial instability. It has also said it is being forced to reduce some of its wider core clinical services including Queenscourt at home shifts and outpatient therapy services, in addition to housekeeping and catering services.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the hospice said if no action is taken, Queenscourt could close within 18 months.<\/p>\n The hospice provides care for patients and their families in Southport, Formby<\/a> and west Lancashire with its financial situation described as untenable<\/a>.<\/p>\n The hospice said just 24% of Queenscourt’s funding came from the NHS, with it stating it is relying on short-term grants, fundraising and personal donations.<\/p>\n Blaming rising costs of salaries, new tax initiatives and an increase in energy bills, and the government’s funding unable to keep up with the rising costs, Queenscourt now says it has an operating deficit of \u00a32m.<\/p>\n Queenscourt said it is continuing with proactive discussions with the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Cheshire and Merseyside and Lancashire and South Cumbria, with the hope of increasing contributions to 35-40%.<\/p>\n The hospice said it would unlikely see any uplift in funding until at least 2029 and it cannot sustain its current service for a further three years.<\/p>\n Executive medical director, Dr Clare Finnegan, said: “Queenscourt has been operating with an annual deficit of approximately \u00a32 million for the past two years, and we face a similar shortfall for 2026\/27.<\/p>\n “We have been drawing on our reserves to ensure we can continue to sustain our current services whilst we have been liaising with the Integrated Care Boards to obtain further funding.<\/p>\n “However we have been advised that we will not receive this level of funding until 2029, and if we do not take measures to cut our costs, Queenscourt will be forced to close.<\/p>\n “This is not an outcome the charity is willing to accept, and we must now take urgent action if Queenscourt is to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n Charlie King, director of external affairs at Hospice UK, said: “This is an incredibly difficult time for everyone at Queenscourt Hospice, and our thoughts are with the staff affected, as well as the patients and families who rely on their care.<\/p>\n “Sadly, this is not an isolated situation. Hospices across the UK are facing growing financial pressures, with six out of 10 hospices either making cuts or planning to. Over 20 other hospices so far have been forced to make heartbreaking decisions like this.<\/p>\n “Hospice UK are calling for urgent action through our four-point plan for fairer funding, so hospices can continue to provide the vital, compassionate care that communities depend on.<\/p>\n “Our plan provides a clear formula for what the NHS should be paying for – protecting specialist clinical services with full statutory funding, and allowing charitable giving to be used to provide enhanced services.<\/p>\n “We can all agree that pain relief, medications and the salaries of nurses and other healthcare staff shouldn’t have to rely on bake sales, fun runs and the sale of second hand clothes.”<\/p>\n A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Hospices do incredible work to support people and families when they need it most and are facing incredibly tough pressures.<\/p>\n “This government made the biggest investment in hospices in a generation – \u00a3125 million \u2013 to improve hospice facilities, freeing other funding for patient care, and has also committed \u00a380 million for children\u2019s and young people\u2019s hospices over three years.<\/p>\n “We will soon set out our plans to modernise and improve the palliative and end of life care sector, as we shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community with hospices playing a central role in delivering care closer to home.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hospice was officially opened by Princess Diana Queenscourt Hospice, Southport A Merseyside hospice faces closure should it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,3019,2762,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-520492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-sefton","11":"tag-southport","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520492","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=520492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}