St Richard’s Hospice has today (13 November 2024) announced that it is redesigning its clinical services as the Worcester-based charity faces unsustainable rising costs, growing demand for its care and an urgent need to tackle its deficit budget.
Earlier this year the hospice confirmed it faced a million-pound hole in its budget following a real term reduction in income received from the NHS, big increases in costs, alongside increasing need for its care services as people live much longer with multiple, complex conditions for which there is no cure.
St Richard’s has now identified and made £613,000 of savings across its operations. Despite this, a further reduction of £364,000 must be found to reduce the hospice’s deficit to a sustainable position.
St Richard’s is therefore proposing to redesign care services, introduce new ways of working and restructure its workforce which could result in the loss of approximately 10 whole time equivalent roles. There is no planned impact on hospice patient beds available or care provision across the county.
Jenny Cowpe, Chair of Trustees for St Richard’s Hospice, said: “St Richard’s is here for patients and families when and where they need us. We put our arms around our community in the most challenging of times, but we simply won’t be here to do that in the future if we don’t redesign our care services and reduce our deficit budget.
“It’s with very heavy hearts that we now face the prospect of making highly qualified, compassionate and caring professionals redundant and we’re doing everything we can to support colleagues.
“By transforming services and restructuring our workforce now, the hospice is ensuring it can return to a sustainable budget as soon as possible. While we have always operated prudently, and have savings to draw upon for now, we are not underwritten by the government or the NHS. If we run out of funds, the hospice wouldn’t be here anymore.
“In our fortieth year of care, the process we are going through puts the hospice on track to continue to provide specialist care and support for the next forty years and beyond.”
Mike Wilkerson, Chief Executive of St Richard’s Hospice, said: “More and more people need our care across Worcestershire every day. Our community is living much longer often with multiple, complex conditions for which there is no cure. We know this increase in demand will continue for all our hospice services over the coming decade, yet we were already spending more each year than we had coming into our charity.
“Over recent months we’ve found huge savings across the organisation by cutting non-pay budgets, freezing recruitment, removing vacant roles and supporting employee requests to reduce working hours, all while working hard on successful large-scale income generation projects like the great Waddle of Worcester art trail. While our fundraising and retail operations will continue to help bring in the income we need over the longer term, they could not help us tackle the impact of rising costs and we’ve been forced to take more urgent action.
“We recognise that this period of uncertainty will be unsettling for our team, volunteers, patients and families. Whilst this decision is one we wish we didn’t need to make, securing the long-term future of St Richard’s is at its heart.
“Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who helps to fund our care for local people living with an illness that cannot be cured and their loved ones – whether that’s by taking part in our fundraisers, supporting your local St Richard’s shop, or gifting your time to us as a volunteer – the support of our community remains vital for our future.”
St Richard’s Hospice is an independent charity offering free, expert care for adults with an illness that cannot be cured, and support for their loved ones and carers.
Each year the hospice team supports more than 3,100 patients, family members and bereaved people in Worcestershire.
It will cost in the region of £12m to run the hospice this year, which includes patient care and all the necessary support services.
St Richard’s relies on voluntary support, including from donations, gifts in Wills, retail and events for the majority of its income with the remainder funded by the NHS.
For more information about St Richard’s Hospice visit www.strichards.org.uk
Frequently asked questions
Why are changes and redundancies being made at St Richard’s?
The truth is that the national hospice funding model is broken. It’s not right that just 20% of our income comes from the NHS and that rising costs and growing demand for care has left us – and other UK hospices – with huge holes in our budgets.
Earlier this year we confirmed we’d spend a million pounds more every year than we had coming into the hospice. We’ve needed to take urgent action to address this deficit.
No part of the organisation has been untouched in terms of the cost savings we need to make and that impacts everyone at St Richard’s. However, despite savings of £613k from across the hospice, we still have a way to go to achieve the £977k reduction we need to deliver care sustainably into the future.
By redesigning clinical services and restructuring our workforce now, we’re ensuring we can return to a sustainable budget as soon as possible. While we have always operated prudently, and have savings to draw upon for now, we are not underwritten by the government or the NHS. If we run out of funds, St Richard’s simply wouldn’t be here anymore.
Although these decisions are ones we wish we didn’t need to make, the proposals put the hospice on track to continue to provide specialist care for the next forty years and beyond.
What does this announcement mean for staff?
We recognise this means big change for everyone at St Richard’s and that’s unsettling.
No part of the organisation has been untouched in terms of the cost savings we need to make and that impacts our whole team. However, despite savings of £613k from across the hospice, we still have a way to go to achieve the £977k reduction we need to deliver care sustainably into the future.
Our biggest costs are in patient care so to make further savings it means we need to redesign our clinical services, introduce new ways of working and restructure our teams to ensure we can meet future demands for our care and support. While the proposals will mean new opportunities are created, sadly we still need to save further costs via redundancies.
The proposals that form the basis of the consultation could result in the equivalent of 10 full time roles being made redundant.
We recognise that this period of uncertainty will be unsettling for our team, volunteers, patients and families. Whilst this decision is one we wish we didn’t need to make, securing the long-term future of St Richard’s is at its heart.
Will the changes impact patient care/result in bed closures?
Proposed changes to future ways of working are designed to maintain the number of beds available on our In-patient Unit and existing care services across the county whilst meeting the increasing demand for our care that we know will be there over the next 10 years.
We’re committed to continuing to deliver our care services at this difficult time and we thank our teams for working tirelessly to provide outstanding care for our patients, and their loved ones.
How many redundancies are you proposing to make?
We’ve saved £613k across the whole organisation by cutting non-pay budgets, freezing recruitment, removing vacant roles, and accepting requests for reduced working hours. However, our budget deficit is more than a million so there’s still more to be done.
To save a further £364k by redesigning care services and restructuring our teams, we could see the equivalent 10 full time roles lost.
We recognise that this period of uncertainty will be unsettling for everyone who knows and loves St Richard’s. Whilst this decision is one we wish we didn’t need to make, securing the long-term future of St Richard’s is at its heart.
When will staff know if they have a job and when will the redundancies take place?
We’re now consulting with those who are affected and, as this is a confidential process, do not know an exact date that this will be formally concluded. Hospice service delivery remains the same during the consultation period and proposed changes to the way we work are designed to maintain the number of beds available on our In-patient Unit and the levels of support we provide to patients and families across Worcestershire.
We thank all our teams for their commitment and professionalism during this unsettling time.
How much money does St Richard’s need to save?
In total we need to save £977k to achieve a sustainable position financially. We’ve saved £613k across the whole organisation by cutting non-pay budgets, freezing recruitment, removing vacant roles, and accepting requests for reduced working hours.
To save a further £364k and reach a sustainable financial position, we could see up to 10 full time equivalent roles lost.
We recognise that this period of uncertainty is unsettling for everyone who knows and loves St Richard’s. Whilst this decision is one we wish we didn’t need to make, the long-term future of St Richard’s is at its heart.
Can’t the hospice use its financial reserves to avoid redundancies?
While we’ve always operated prudently, and have reserves to draw upon for now, we are not underwritten by the government or the NHS. If we run out of funds, the hospice simply wouldn’t be here anymore.
Unfortunately, we cannot rely on our savings in the long term – they can only be spent once.
How will St Richard’s continue to care for patients under the proposed service redesign?
We will alter the way we deliver our care to ensure we’re maximising the skills and experience of our highly qualified people to lead teams of frontline staff.
Proposed changes to the way we work are designed to maintain the number of beds available on our In-patient Unit and existing care services across the county whilst meeting the increasing demand for our care that we know will be there over the next 10 years.
What has the hospice done so far to cut costs?
We’ve taken as many steps as possible to reduce our costs and try to avoid redundancies. This includes:
- Assessing and reducing all our non-pay budgets.
- Assessing every vacancy, freezing recruitment and accepting requests for reduced working hours
- Removing vacant roles from across hospice teams and making changes to non-NHS pension contributions.
Despite savings of £613k from all of the above activities we still have a way to go to achieve the £977k cost reduction required to return to a sustainable budget.
What other cost savings are being considered?
At this point in time we have taken all the steps we can to reduce costs including by freezing recruitment, removing vacant roles, reducing working hours and cutting non-pay budgets across the organisation.
By redesigning services and restructuring our teams now, St Richard’s is ensuring it can return to a sustainable budget as soon as possible. While we have always operated prudently, and have savings to draw upon for now, we are not underwritten by the government or the NHS. If we run out of funds, the hospice simply wouldn’t be here anymore.
In our fortieth year of care, this process puts the hospice on track to continue to provide specialist care for the next forty years and beyond.
Why is St Richard’s doing this now in challenging times for everyone financially? Could it wait?
Unfortunately, the hospice sector is facing a financial crisis nationally due to rising costs and a real term reduction in the income received from the NHS. Here at St Richard’s, we know we’ll bring in more than a million pounds less than we’ll spend this year and every year unless we take urgent action.
By redesigning services and restructuring teams now, we’re ensuring the hospice can return to a sustainable budget as soon as possible. While we have always operated prudently, and have savings to draw upon for now, we are not underwritten by the government or the NHS. If we run out of funds, the hospice simply wouldn’t be here anymore.
Are other hospices making redundancies?
This situation is not unique to St Richard’s. Hospice UK, the national champion for hospices representing more than 200 hospices across the UK, believe that around a fifth of hospices nationally are reviewing their workforce design. This includes Birmingham Hospice and St Giles Hospice who have also announced redundancies this year.
Why are you spending money opening new shops when you’re making redundancies?
To achieve our long-term financial sustainability, increasing income is paramount.
Our charity shops are a vital source of income for St Richard’s and bring in around £3.5 million each year for the patients and loved ones we support.
Creating pop-ups, like our menswear store in Worcester, to help us raise more funds for the patients and loved ones we support. This investment does not take funds away from our vital services.
We remain committed to increasing our income generating activities in order to achieve long-term financial sustainability for St Richard’s. We thank everyone who shops with, donates to and volunteers their time to our shops.
Didn’t you just raise a huge sum from the great Waddle of Worcester, yet you’re still making redundancies?
We’re absolutely committed to increasing our income generation activities like the great Waddle of Worcester which was our biggest and best art trail yet in terms of funds raised.
However, projects like this deliver planned income. We were already counting on this income as part of the £12 million we need to keep our vital services running this year.
Redesigning our services and restructuring our team comes in response to an urgent need to reach a sustainable budget and close the significant gap we were facing year on year.
Why aren’t you launching an emergency appeal to fill the gap?
The truth is that the national hospice funding model is broken. It’s not right that just 20% of our income comes from the NHS and that rising costs and growing demand for care has left us – and other UK hospices – with huge holes in our budgets.
Our community already gives so much to us – helping us find around 80% of our income each and every year – it isn’t sustainable to ask supporters to help us cover rising costs when many are facing financial pressures themselves.
However, for anyone who would like to do something today to help; making a regular gift of any size to the hospice helps us boost our financial security and plan with confidence. You can make a one-off or regular donation here: https://www.strichards.org.uk/donate/
Over the years money’s been invested in the hospice building. Was that completely necessary?
Changes to the hospice building have largely been funded by trusts and grants who specifically fund build projects and this investment has ensured that our facilities continue to support our care nearly two decades after they were first built. On top of this we received some large gifts given specifically to enhance the hospice / caring environment. These funds were not available to us to pay salaries.
Where trust and grant providers are willing to pay core costs, like salaries, our fundraising team work hard to scope out opportunities and secure this income.