A Sussex-based hospice charity has announced that it will be reducing its workforce amid a “perfect storm” of significant financial challenges.
St Wilfrid’s Hospice announced last week that it will be making redundancies to “protect the future of hospice care”.
Its decision has been made in light of “significant” financial challenges faced by the charity in recent years, such as the cost-of-living crisis and increased employer national insurance contributions.
Additionally, the charity cited a decline in the amount of money received from legacies in the last two years as another factor that is having “a major impact”.
According to Charity Commission data, the charity’s income from legacies decreased from £3.8m in 2023 to £2.2m in the year to March 2024.
CEO: ‘Using our reserves was no longer sustainable’
St Wilfrid’s Hospice employs 251 people, according to its latest accounts, and operates palliative care services around east Sussex, including an inpatient unit; a day hospice; a community team; bereavement counselling, and an education centre.
Colin Twomey, the charity’s CEO, said: “It’s a perfect storm. To ensure we pay our people fairly and attract and retain good people, we have seen our salaries increase in the past two years.
“We have also seen the cost of goods and utilities rise and our national insurance contributions rise. At the same time, our government funding has remained broadly the same, and our income from legacies has reduced.
“Up until now we have been able to use our reserves to make up the shortfall, but it has become clear that this is no longer sustainable. We need to act now to secure the future of the hospice.”
Redundancies being made despite recent government grant
Following campaigning by national hospice charity Hospice UK, St Wilfrid’s Hospice received a government grant to improve its buildings and equipment in December 2024.
Of the grant, Twomey explained that the funding could not be used for salaries or running costs, yet, as a charity providing healthcare, its largest cost was staff.
According to its most recent accounts, the charity spent over £7.3m – 69% of its total expenditure – on staff costs in 2023-24.
Twomey added: “We have been working hard to reduce costs wherever possible and maximise opportunities for income, but we are now at a point where we will have to reduce our staffing costs to bring the deficit in our budget to a manageable level.
“This will inevitably require removing some roles though redundancies and reduction in hours.”
A spokesperson for St Wilfrid’s Hospice told Civil Society that it is unable to say how many employees could be made redundant.
The charity is now entering a consultation period, which it hopes to have completed by the end of June.
