Warning over National Insurance effect on Bolton Hospice

Last year the hospice announced that it was facing an unprecedented funding crisis and partnered with The Bolton News in a campaign to save the well-loved institution.

But chief executive officer Dr Leigh Vallance has warned a planned rise in National Insurance contributions for employers has made the need for a fairer funding deal all the more vital.

Dr Vallance said: “Whilst the National Insurance increase does indeed make a bad funding situation worse for Bolton Hospice, we recognise the government’s need to increase its revenues in order to shore up all of our public services, which have faced unsustainable reductions too. 

“The fundamental issue here is the need for a sustainable, fairer funding deal for hospices that disproportionately fund, through their charitable income, the majority of the costs of providing the very best highly specialist palliative and end of life care. 

Bolton Hospice has faced huge challenges (Image: Bolton Hospice)

“It is the people of Bolton who are being disrespected and, on whose behalf, we ask the NHS to provide at least 30p to match every 70p raised by the good people of Bolton, and to commit to full cost recovery funding for VCFSE colleagues.”

The hospice relies on private donations, fundraising and contributions from the government via the NHS.

In 2023 Dr Vallance announced that Bolton Hospice was running of a loss of up to £1.2M and may have had to cut as many as a third of beds.

She said at the time that this showed the funding model itself needed to be “fixed”.

The Bolton News launched the Save Bolton Hospice campaign (Image: Newsquest)

After the launch of the Save Bolton Hospice campaign alongside The Bolton News, a range of fundraising efforts followed.

These helped to cut the funding gap to an expected £400,000 for the 2024/25 financial year by April 2024.

But at the time the hospice warned that this was still an “unsustainable deficit” and fundraising efforts have since continued.

The increase in National Insurance contributions announced in this year's budget could now put institutions like Bolton Hospice under more pressure still, opponents have warned.

Cllr John Walsh, of Astley Bridge, has put forward a motion to Bolton Council calling on the authority to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the borough’s three MPs.

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It will call on them to change policy with regard to National Insurance and hospices.

Cllr Walsh’s motion says: “This council notes with concern many aspects of the chancellor's budget proposals and in particular confirmation that hospices are not considered part of the NHS and will therefore be liable for the increased employers national insurance contributions.

“In noting the vital role played in particular by Bolton Hospice but all others in supporting patients and their families this Council resolves to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the three Borough Members of Parliament to change this disastrous decision with the potentially huge negative impact on so many residents.”

The motion is expected to be debated at a full meeting of Bolton Council to be held at town hall on Wednesday, November 27.