An end-of-life charity has confirmed it will cut more than 30 staff in a bid to protect its future and ensure charitable funds are used to make the most impact, its chief executive has said.
St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne, East Sussex, confirmed it will stop providing domiciliary care to people at home after a staff consultation.
The change will result in the removal of 9.7 full-time equivalent permanent roles, held by 15 staff, and a further 16 staff who work flexibly through the hospice’s bank system will also be affected, the charity said.
St Wilfrid’s, which employs 235 people, or 154 full-time equivalent employees, said it was looking for alternative roles within the hospice for some of the affected staff.
The charity made 10 redundancies and reduced the hours of 13 further staff last year as part of an attempt to cut its costs by £500,000.
Since then, there had been an “extensive” programme of work to reduce costs and secure new income, including making savings in its non-clinical teams, finding efficiencies, partnering with other local hospices and exploring new income streams, the charity said.
St Wilfrid’s Hospice recorded an income of £8.5m and costs of £11.3m according to its latest accounts for the year to the end of March 2025.
The charity’s costs continue to increase while its funding is staying “broadly the same”, according to Colin Twomey, chief executive of St Wilfrid’s Hospice.
“This financial year we have budgeted for a loss of £1.5m,” he said.
“While we can manage this by carefully using our reserves, it simply isn’t sustainable long-term.
“To protect our future and make sure we are here for generations to come, we’re making some difficult but necessary changes.”
Other services provided by St Wilfrid’s, including its community team of doctors, nurses and other health professionals, telephone advice line, living well service and inpatient unit, will continue to operate as normal, the charity said.
Twomey said the job cuts were about “ensuring charitable funds are used to make the most impact”.
He said: “It 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.
“There are many care providers locally offering domiciliary care at home for those who need it, including at the end of a person’s life.”
Twomey said: “The outpouring of feeling we have seen in the weeks since we proposed changes has been humbling.
“It is clear that our community cares deeply about the future of the hospice, and we are committed to making sure we are here for generations to come.
“Our community is simply amazing, and has stepped up when we’ve asked – and for that I am truly grateful.
“We still have work to do, but I am confident that, together, we will secure the future of the hospice.”