Children’s hospice calls on local CCGs to help secure new government funding

Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice charity shop in the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre, Rochdale

Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, which supports children with life-shortening conditions and their families in the local area through its hospice, Grace’s Place in Bury, has called upon local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to help it secure new government funding.

This comes after NHS England announced recently that national funding for children’s hospices is to rise by as much as £25m a year.

However, this increase is reliant on local CCGs agreeing to fund some of the work of their local hospice which will then be match funded by NHS England. Without a partnership approach to this work, Grace’s Place will still be solely reliant on fundraising amongst the public.

Welcoming the NHS England announcement, Luen Thompson, Forget Me Not’s chief executive, said: “This is hugely positive news for children’s hospices across the UK.

"The demand for our services is ever-increasing while the care and support that families need is becoming more and more complex. 

"This additional funding will enable us to help more children and families which in turn reduces the pressure on the NHS and gives families vital support at the most difficult time of their lives, so it’s funding that makes sense to CCGs who need to manage costs.

"However, securing this additional funding is entirely dependent on working together with local NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

"By supporting us, CCGs will make a significant and vital contribution to the wellbeing of local families and help ensure children’s palliative care services – including those  provided by the NHS in a hospital setting and those provided by us in the community – are available to all who need them, when they need them.

"I’d like to invite CCGs from across North Manchester to help us make sure that local children and families get the support they need now – and in the future.”

Forget Me Not currently supports local families in their own homes across Oldham, Bury and Rochdale and has just opened its hospice, Grace’s Place in Radcliffe.

The charity must raise around £500,000 each year to ensure it is able to give the children and families the support they need in North Manchester.

With only a tiny proportion of its funding coming from government sources, the support of the whole local community and especially CCGs is vital to raise the money needed to build the services local families require.