St Wilfrid’s Hospice to reduce workforce

St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne has today announced that it will be reducing its workforce to protect the future of hospice care in Eastbourne, Uckfield, Seaford and the surrounding areas.

In common with many hospices across the country, St Wilfrid’s Hospice has experienced significant financial challenges in recent years due to inflation, the rising cost of living, and increased national insurance contributions.

Alongside this, the hospice says that the amount of money it has received from gifts in wills in the last two years has been less than forecast, and this is having a major impact.

“It’s a perfect storm,” says Colin Twomey, CEO of St Wilfrid’s Hospice. “To ensure we pay our people fairly and attract and retain good people, we have seen our salaries increase in the past two years. We have also seen the cost of goods and utilities rise and our national insurance contributions rise. At the same time, our government funding has remained broadly the same, and our income from legacies has reduced.

“Up until now we have been able to use our reserves to make up the shortfall, but it has become clear that this is no longer sustainable. We need to act now to secure the future of the hospice.”

Following campaigning by national hospice charity Hospice UK, St Wilfrid’s recently received a government grant to improve its buildings and equipment. It has also joined a national campaign to encourage more people to leave gifts in their wills, and it has been working on a three-year plan to balance its budget.

Despite all of this, the hospice is now facing the reality that it will have to reduce its staffing.

“We were grateful for the additional government grant announced in December 2024,” says Colin. “However, this funding cannot be used for salaries or running costs, and as a charity providing healthcare our major cost is our staff.

“We have been working hard to reduce costs wherever possible and maximise opportunities for income, but we are now at a point where we will have to reduce our staffing costs to bring the deficit in our budget to a manageable level. This will inevitably require removing some roles though redundancies and reduction in hours.

“It’s been a tough decision, and not one we have taken lightly. We are working to identify what this reduction will mean for our staff, patients and wider community. I want to emphasise we will do all we can to protect patient services, and I want to reassure those receiving care from St Wilfrid’s that we will continue to provide that care, and we will keep you informed of any future changes.”

Toby Porter, CEO of Hospice UK says: “We’re sad to see yet another hospice forced to consider making job losses due to financial pressure. We extend our compassion to everyone affected by these cuts to services and to the excellent team at St Wilfrid’s.

“The government has been clear that hospices have a big role to play in their plans to shift more care into the community. Hospices, like St Wilfrid’s, are ready to help and have the skills and ability to do so, but rising costs mean too many are having to reduce what they can offer, exactly at the time when demand for their care is growing.

“While the recent £100m investment from central government is a significant step, we need to see a long-term change to how palliative and end of life care is paid for by local NHS commissioners to ensure hospices like St Wilfrid’s have the sustainable funding they need to support their local communities long into the future.”

Colin added: “Whilst everyone at St Wilfrid’s is saddened by this situation, we’re enormously grateful to our amazing community, who are standing by us in this time of adversity. Their generosity in trying to reduce our funding gap by donating, fundraising, leaving gifts in wills, playing our lottery and visiting our shops, is heartening and awe-inspiring. It is thanks to this support that we have been able to grow our services over the years to meet the needs of our community, and we want to assure our community that we are doing everything in our power to make sure the hospice is here for many years to come.”

St Wilfrid’s Hospice offers support to people with life-limiting conditions in Eastbourne, Hailsham, Heathfield, Uckfield, Seaford and all the areas in between. You can find out more about the work of St Wilfrid’s and how to support the hospice at stwhospice.org.