Changes to our clinical services in 2026

Our services are free to patients, children and young people and their families, and as a charity we only receive 14% of funding from our NHS grant. We are therefore dependent on the generosity of our communities to keep the hospices running.

Sadly, like nearly two thirds of hospices in the UK, we’re operating at a deficit (£3.7m), compounded by increased demand and rising costs such as inflation and National Insurance.

Since we merged to form Southern Hospice Group in 2024, we’ve done all we can to try to bridge this gap without affecting our clinical services, such as making significant savings in our non-clinical teams, combining systems to reduce duplication, and exploring new income streams. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been enough, so we’re having to make some difficult decisions today, to ensure that we can continue to be here for our communities long into the future.

We’ve completed a detailed review of our clinical offering, and we’ve today proposed some changes to our services which, if they go ahead, will come into effect from April. This review would always be necessary in the wake of a merger, but our financial position is shaping the decisions within it.

There are so many ways our incredible communities can help us, below are some examples:

• Making a donation

• Playing the Local Hospice Lottery

• Leaving a gift in your Will

• Walking, running or cycling in support of your local hospice

• Donating quality goods to one of our 34 charity shops

• Volunteering your time

We’re incredibly grateful for your support, and every penny counts! Your generosity will support us in developing our services but please note that we’re unable to take donations to allow specific roles or services to continue, due to the need for long-term, guaranteed funding do so.

While our financial position is challenging and we need to take action now to secure our future, our position isn’t critical yet. We have funds to see us through the short term, buying us the time we need to make changes that will bring us financial sustainability.

Additionally, while a crisis appeal would bring a welcome injection of funds, this wouldn’t secure the regular, annual income needed to run our services – staff salaries (which make up the majority of our expenditure), infrastructure, medicines and other consumables all have an ongoing cost that require continued funding, year-in, year-out. A crisis appeal may buy us more time – but it wouldn’t solve the problem in the long term and we would still need to make these decisions.

While we are in a financially challenging position, we have reserves to see us through the short-term. Provided we take action to reduce costs and increase income enough to tackle the deficit now, we will remain open and here for our communities in the long-term. This review of our services will play a big part in reducing the deficit and support us as we work to achieve long-term financial sustainability.

The changes are just proposals at this stage, so we’re not able to confirm which services are affected. Once the consultation has concluded we’ll be able to share this information and will write to any patients or families affected by the change.

Please continue to access our services as normal for now. Once the consultation has concluded we’ll be able to share more information and will write to any patients or families affected by the change.

No. We are not closing our hospices.

We recognise there have been rumours and uncertainty, which is understandable during a period of change, and we want to be very clear about our intentions. Our commitment is to continue serving our communities by providing high-quality, compassionate palliative and end-of-life care.

What we are doing is redesigning our services to ensure care is equitable, sustainable, and aligned with our available funding. This work is about securing a financially sustainable future for Southern Hospice Group, so we can continue to support patients, families, and communities both now and in the years ahead.

All planned appointments with the hospice will go ahead until 28 March, when changes to our services will come into effect. If, at this point, any appointments need to be cancelled we’ll contact you directly.

Please email services@southernhospicegroup.org.uk and one of the team will be able to help with your query.