Funding shortfall puts hospice on back burner

PLANS for a specialist 16-bed hospice facility in Tullamore look set to remain on the drawing board for the forseeable future.

The Department of Health has agreed to fund the €3m annual running costs of the proposed hospice that would serve the people of Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath. However, it wants the local hospice groups in the four counties to follow the example of their counterparts in Wicklow and elsewhere and fund the estimated €9.5m constuction costs.

Mary Murphy of Offaly Hospice says that the five organisations involved fund community services in their respective areas and will struggle to raise the additional finances for the new hospice. This year Offaly Hospice is currently the third year of a five committment agreeement with the HSE to fund community hospice services, which will cost €190,000 for 2016.

Trying to raise money for the new hospice, while continuing with their present funding committments “is a big step up” and a “major stumbling block”, Ms Murphy says. At present, the hospice's annual income is around €150,000, which is generated through fundraising and donations.

Ms Murphy says that there has been a shortage of information from the HSE about the proposed hospice and until more is known it is very hard for the local organisations to formulate a fundraising plan.

Although it is unlikely to be built any time soon, Ms Murphy says that the new hospice would transform the provision of palliative care in the midlands. Rather than replace the existing care in the community model, it would complement it, she says.

“If we have a hospice it would be a one stop shop for palliative care. If you had to be stabilised and were in for a day or two or had to come in for a week to get back on your feet you would be registered the minute you go in. There would be unnecessary testing or form filling, or you wouldn't have to answer questions repeatedly. You would be under their care whether you were being treated at home or in a bed in the hospice.

” In a statement, the HSE said that similar projects around the country had been funded by hospice groups and by philantrophic donations.

“In an effort to progress the hospice project the HSE engaged with local groups in the midlands in an effort to ascertain if they were in a position to provide funding for the hospice.

“Currently there is no capital funding available from the Exchequer until 2020 at a minimum in view of the building of the new Children's Hospital.”