Hospice care is so much more than you think...

On the wards, in the community, and in people’s homes across the UK, hospices look after people who need palliative and end-of-life care day in, day out. Our teams work tirelessly to make sure that our patients are comfortable and can live well in the time they have left.

Making every moment matter

Hospice care isn’t only about managing pain and symptoms on a hospice ward or inpatient unit. It is often about the things that make life better for the person and their family outside of the hospice’s building.

The things that someone might have once loved doing, but now struggles to because of their illness. Like going to their favourite café, seeing a sports match, taking a day trip to the beach, or even just getting out into their own garden.

Each year in the UK, community nursing teams and volunteers make 1.4 million visits to help people at the end of their lives live well in the community, delivering care closer to home, keeping people out of hospital who do not need to be there – and letting many people be where they want to be, in the place they love most: their own home.

In 2024-25, generalist palliative care nurses, healthcare assistants, social workers and carers from hospices made 780,000 home visits. And specialist palliative care doctors and nurses from hospices made 620,000 home visits*. In addition, hundreds of thousands of visits from volunteers – like our Oakhaven Neighbours – help and provide companionship for patients in their own homes.

Demand for hospice care is growing every year

These services could – and should – be growing and expanding to meet the rising demand of our ageing population. But in fact, nationally, they are shrinking. Many hospices are on the brink, with surging costs leading to many services being cut back.

Over the past 15 years, demand for Oakhaven Hospice's services has increased from an average of 100 to over 450 patients at any time. The New Forest has the highest proportion of residents aged 65+ in Hampshire, representing 30% of the population - and this is rising. Our ageing population means that many more people are going to die each year - and we're determined that they, and their loved ones, get the care they need and deserve.

Just 11% of our costs are covered by the NHS

We provide hospice care free of charge, yet a mere 11% of our costs are covered by the government. For the remaining 89% we rely on the generous support of our wonderful community, whose kind donations, fundraising and gifts in wills, as well as income generated from our charity shops and home care provider Oakhaven Care Ltd, help us to continue providing our vital specialist support.

With the right support, there is so much more we can do. So that’s why, this Hospice Care Week, we’re celebrating all the things that hospices do to make people’s lives better, in hospices and in patients' homes. And the hospice staff and volunteers who do them, to help raise awareness that these services should be properly funded.

Because hospice care is more than you think.

 

*Hospice UK Hospice Activity Data Survey, UK, 2024-25