A hospice that cares for terminally ill people in their own homes has welcomed news that the government has pledged an extra £286million for palliative care services.
The move comes following the publication of the first End of Life Care Strategy covering England.
Most of the cash will be allocated to primary care trusts, which work to provide local health and social care, however, it is not yet known how much
could filter through to the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home.
The charity has been calling for more funding and in 2007 launched a Fair Share Campaign to highlight the low level of NHS funding it receives. The hospice gets just 15 per cent of its cash from the NHS while the rest comes from fundraising and donations.
The End of Life Care Strategy aims to provide adults with more choice about where they would like to be cared for and die.
It has been devised by a team of experts chaired by national cancer director for the Department of Heath, Professor Mike Richards.
Maddie Blackburn, chief executive of the Tring-based Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, said: "We work closely with the NHS locally, as well as our hospice partners, to help continue delivering end of life care at home to all those who need it, just as we have for the last 23 years.
"This service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We were one of the first dedicated hospice at home services to be established in the UK and are now caring for just under 900 patients annually."
The hospice provides care, free of charge, to people living in the Chilterns area of Herts and Bucks with a terminal or life-threatening illness.
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