Derry MLA Ciara Ferguson backs ‘much-cherished’ Foyle Hospice in bid to fix outdated funding model

Speaking during the debate on the Health Committee’s Report on Access to Palliative Care Services, Ms Ferguson told MLAs: “I would just like to note our much cherished Foyle Hospice, which has been operating for over 40 years in the city.

"They rely currently on around 60 per cent of their income coming from fundraising and the goodwill of the people...do you not agree that the funding model is totally out of date and that we should be moving quite urgently to a 100 per cent model?”

Her remarks came as the Assembly backed a series of recommendations aimed at improving palliative and end-of-life care, including a commitment to move towards 100 per cent funding for hospice services, with an initial step of meeting 50 per cent of the actual cost of care.

Foyle Hospice Chief Executive Donall Henderson said hearing those words in the chamber was ‘deeply heartening’ for the hospice team and for the families they support.

“When you have worked with Foyle Hospice for a long time, you know how much this place means to people in our city and right across the Western Trust area,” he said.

“You see it in the way families speak about the care their loved one received, and you see it in the sheer effort people put into fundraising year after year.

“What often gets missed is that behind all of that generosity sits a very stark reality… without that community support, we simply could not keep going at the level we do.

"Around 60 per cent of our income has to be raised every year, and that is for services which are absolutely central to how this region cares for people at the end of life.

“To hear a Foyle MLA stand up in the Assembly and spell that out, to say this is not sustainable and that we should be looking at a model where core hospice services are fully funded.

"What we are asking for is a solid base...a funding settlement that reflects the real cost of specialist hospice care so that the money people raise can go into improving and developing services, not just keeping the doors open.”

Mr Henderson said a modernised funding model would give families and staff greater security.

“Whether you live in Cityside, the Waterside, Strabane or further out in the Western Trust area, you should be able to take it for granted that hospice care will be there if you need it,” he added.

“At the minute, too much of that depends on constant fundraising and short-term decisions. Moving towards 100 per cent funding for core services would let us plan for the next decade, not just the next financial year.”

Foyle Hospice Director of Nursing and Clinical Care, Annmarie Casey, said Ms. Ferguson’s comments captured what frontline staff feel but rarely have time to say.

“When you are with a family in the early hours of the morning, you are not thinking about percentages on a balance sheet,” she said.

“You are thinking about the person in front of you, whether their pain is under control, whether their partner has had any sleep.

"But in the background, there is always that awareness that the service you are working in has to rebuild a big part of its budget from scratch every year.

"Our nurses will never let that get in the way of the care we give, but it does affect how far ahead we can plan, how confident staff feel about their roles, and how quickly we can respond when demand increases.

“What Ciara said in the Assembly really matters to us because it acknowledges both sides of the story, the love people have for Foyle Hospice, and the pressure that comes with relying so heavily on that love to fund essential care.

"A move towards full statutory funding for core hospice services, similar to what we see in the South, would allow us to focus on what we are here to do: keeping people comfortable, supporting families.”

Ms Casey added that stability is particularly important for patients and families in Foyle.

“When someone you love is seriously ill, you should not have to worry about whether the hospice will still be there, or whether there will be enough nurses to visit at home. A secure, modern funding model would not change the heart of Foyle Hospice… that comes from the people… but it would give us the firm footing we need to keep caring for this community for the next 40 years.”

Foyle Hospice, a member of Hospice Alliance NI, provides specialist palliative and end-of-life care for adults with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, as well as bereavement support for adults and children, across the Western Health and Social Care Trust area.

The charity says it will continue to work with MLAs, the Western Trust, Hospice Alliance NI and the Department of Health to push for a funding model that is fair, sustainable and worthy of the community that has supported it for over four decades.

The Foyle Hospice was founded by the late Dr. Tom McGinley in the 1980s.

The Gweedore-native and fellow campaigners first established a Palliative Homecare Service for those with a terminal illness in the 1980s before opening an Inpatient Unit on June 30, 1991.