St Barnabas Hospice CEO says sector in "financial crisis"
The increases in employers national insurance and minimum wage have added £300,000 to St Barnabas' costs.
A Lincolnshire hospice tell us the sector is in crisis following the increase in minimum wage and employers national insurance this April.
St Barnabas provide end of life care to over 12,000 people in Lincolnshire each year, but say they are going to have to make some tough decisions to absorb the £300,000 increase in costs.
"We will do everything in our power not to turn people away," said Chris Wheway, St Barnabas CEO.
"It's our passion and our value basis that everyone in Lincolnshire has the right, and it's a human right, to the highest quality of end of life care.
"But I also have to make sure that the organisation is sustainable and resilient.
"I think there is a pragmatic reality that says if we if we end up cutting some of our care or delivery of care that less people will receive services.
"Am I happy about it? No, I'm not. Does it make me quite angry the way end of life care is funded in this country? Yes, it does."
Hospices in the UK receive around a third of their funding from government, with the rest of the money needed to deliver specialist end of life care coming from donations.
St Barnabas opened in Lincolnshire in 1982 - making it one of the first hospices in the country.
"I think nationally, there needs to be an acceptance that, and particularly now we're in the area of things like assisted dying, there needs to be a higher profile given to end of life care and the provision of specialist palliative care," said Chris Wheway.
"I'm very unhappy about the fact that charities and our charity in particular, have been hit by the National Insurance employers increase/
"It just feels very, very wrong to me, but we have to, like any other business and any other charity, manage that impact and ensure we hold this charity and trust for the future population, the people of Lincolnshire."
"The Hospice movement needs to be taken seriously and supported and recognised for the good that it does.
"Each patient that is with us isn't in an acute hospital, isn't in using up NHS resources.
"Overall, what's got to happen is that funding and support and respect needs to be given to the Hospice movement and we need to actually value end of life care in the same way we value other other areas of care."