St Giles Hospice has made 21 redundancies as a result of challenges posed by the “financial crisis looming over the hospice sector”.
The hospice charity, which is based in Whittington, Staffordshire, announced in August that it was planning to cut about 40 full-time roles – amounting to 15 per cent of its workforce – in a bid to tackle a £1.5m deficit.
Before the consultation period, St Giles Hospice had a total of 292 staff, a spokesperson told Third Sector. But following the consultation, the charity has said that 21 people have left through redundancy.
It also said: “Understandably, given this has been an unsettling period of change, we have also seen a number of colleagues leave the organisation through resignation.”
The charity’s spokesperson told Third Sector that 20 employees resigned between July and December, which they said is “consistent withour normal staff turnover”.
For comparison, 19 colleagues resigned in the first quarter of this year, Third Sector understands.
The spokesperson said: “These decisions form part of a comprehensive approach to ensure the long-term sustainability of our vital services for the local community, while we continue to work alongside Hospice UK and other hospices to advocate for sustainable funding solutions for the sector.”
In a statement, St Giles Hospice said: “The landscape in which hospices operate is evolving and St Giles needs to adapt to keep up with changes and challenges currently being faced in palliative and end-of-life care, while ensuring good financial management.
“To achieve this a review of the way in which we deliver our services, and the workforce required, was critical.”
According to its latest accounts, the charity had an average number of 306 staff in the year to the end of March 2023.
During the same period, it had total income of £12.9m and expenditure of £13m.
St Giles Hospice has also made changes to its services, saying: “Financial pressures mean we must now focus on our very core specialist palliative care services.”
The charity said it has reduced its inpatient unit bed provision from 23 to 15 beds, including the cessation of its continuing healthcare beds and accelerated discharge beds, for which funding ended in June.
The charity has also reviewed and updated its patient referrals criteria to reflect these changes.
The hospice said: “The decision to reduce our workforce and bed capacity has been agonising and we ask our health and social care partners to bear with us while we continue to navigate this difficult and unsettling time for the hospice with the aim to maintain our service provision.
“Our commitment to providing outstanding end-of-life care remains unwavering, but we must operate within our financial means to safeguard the future of our services and ensure the long-term survival of St Giles.”
This article was updated on 13 November 2024 to include the St Giles Hospice’s staff numbers, the number of resignations and a comment from a charity spokesperson.