THE chief executive of a Basingstoke hospice has spoken out about the struggle to provide palliative care to everyone who needs it, following the publication of a national report.

The report, published this week by London School of Economics and commissioned by the Marie Curie charity, reveals that more than 100,000 people a year who would benefit from palliative care are not receiving it, and that patients coming to the end of their life are often left without sufficient pain relief and respite.

It found that most palliative care goes to cancer patients, and that certain groups including those aged over 85 or people living alone are missing out on receiving palliative care.

David Monkman, chief executive of St Michael’s Hospice, in Aldermaston Road, Basingstoke, believes the findings of this report do not come as a surprise.

He said: “With current funding we can only offer our services to a quarter of the local population who require specialist palliative care with funding being the ultimate barrier.

“We recognised many years ago the change in palliative care needs of patients suffering from conditions such as dementia and Motor Neurone Disease and have invested in training of our staff to address this.”

Many of the issues highlighted in the report have already been used by St Michael’s as the basis of its new hospice strategy for north Hampshire, where Marie Curie does not provide any service.

St Michael’s Hospice at Home service is the only provider of dedicated end of life care in north Hampshire.

The hospice recently unveiled a five year strategic plan to introduce up to four community hubs in the area, to allow a greater number of patients suffering from life-limiting conditions to choose where they receive care.

With support from Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) palliative care service, St Michael’s Hospice will pilot the first hubs in Odiham and Alton to provide specialist care in a patient’s home during the last few months of their lives.

The pilot is being part funded by North Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group, but funding for the full scheme will primarily be from St Michael’s Hospice, with a contribution from HHFT.

Mr Monkman said: “We strive to increase our capacity of care in an attempt to avoid distressing, and often inappropriate, hospital admissions. Our befriending service in the Odiham area seeks to address social isolation in terminally ill patients, all of this contributes to a substantial saving to the NHS.

“We are fortunate to have an extremely supportive CCG but ultimately the bill for addressing these heightening issues will fall to the local community to fund itself.”

He added: “The development and growth of the Hospice at Home service is crucial to ensuring we meet the changing needs of the community we represent, the new more locally based teams will greatly enhance our service to patients.”