Call for greater state funding of hospice care

DOCTORS yesterday called for more funding for hospice care to come from the NHS.

The funding hospices receive to care for dying patients and their families varies, but in many cases accounts for less than a third of their income.

The British Medical Association (BMA) conference in Liverpool backed a motion which called for "the majority of hospice and palliative care funding to come directly from central NHS resources".

Dr Roger Bulley, a GP in Somerset, said:

"We must support the people, our patients, at their greatest time of need and stop them becoming the centre of this funding tug-of-war."

But Dr Kumar Kotegaonkar, a member of the BMA's GPs committee argued that full state funding would reduce involvement of communities, and could lead to more cuts.

Despite the concerns, doctors voted in favour of more NHS funding for hospices.