Bolton Hospice is there for families at their most desperate.
And many in the town would consider it as an essential service - but the hospice is very much dependant on donations and now faces cuts.
The Bolton News is pulling the town together to stop this and raise money for the hospice.
The Chief Executive of Bolton Hospice said the hospice is there for families who need support before and after the death of a loved one.
The hospice on Chorley New Road is running at a £1.2million loss and could be forced to cut nearly a third of beds.
Chief executive Dr Leigh Vallance said hospices relieve the pressures from the NHS and without access to the hospice, families would miss out on ‘unique’ care.
Dr Vallance said: “What I am most frustrated about is that it is the people of Bolton who has generated all of this income and they are the ones that are being let down.
“They are the ones whose contribution isn’t being matched by the NHS, they are the ones that I am outraged for, and they are the ones who will be getting this quality of care as a result of this.
“We have stood by our side of the bargain, the government has failed to stand by theirs.
“The pressure will be on the hospital, and I think as I said before we don’t have a cost-of-living crisis here we have a cost of dying well crisis and the business model has always been for decades that hospices generate the majority of the income and that is topped up by the NHS, but the NHS proportion has declined over the past ten to thirteen years.
“At the same time, we have doubled our income generation, so a 100 per cent increase from our side and a decrease and a decline in the NHS and it makes no sense to us because it will cost the NHS more to provide less quality good care than we do here.
“A hospital is there to fix you up, make you better and get you home again, here we provide intensive support not only to the patient but to their loved ones, we do pre- bereavement and post-bereavement work, it is a very holistic person-centred approach and that is why hospices exist and that’s why we are so unique.
“We support the individuals not only pain control and symptom control but also their psychological wellbeing and their spiritual care as well.
“They know they can die peacefully because they know we are here to support their loved ones afterwards.
“The people of Bolton pay for Bolton Hospice, they deserve better.”
Bolton Hospice runs a total of 16 beds along with a range of other services including a Hospice at Home service and Welfare Hub.
It relies on a combination of private donations and fundraising, some of it left in people’s wills, with contributions from the government via the NHS.
To support the appeal, visit www.gofundme.com/f/Bolton-News-Bolton-Hospice-appeal
If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @chloewjourno.
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