AN URGENT appeal has been launched to prevent people across Warwickshire dying while on the waiting list for a hospice bed.
The Myton Hospices has launched the appeal after revealing three out of five people on the waiting list for one of its beds will die before they can access one.
The charity needs to raise £240,000, which could fund the recruitment, training and salary for five registered nurses for a year – and help ensure more people across the county can access a hospice bed.
The appeal has been launched to address spiralling demand and costs, which are both at an all-time high.
According to the charity, which runs hospices in Coventry, Rugby and Warwick, more people need a hospice bed now than ever before – with demand up by 11 per cent in the last 12 months.
As the only provider of hospice inpatient beds in Coventry and Warwickshire, Myton is acutely aware of the need for more, but is limited in what it can provide because of funding constraints.
Myton provides services free of charge to patients and their loved ones.
Just 20 per cent of its costs are covered by statutory funding and – with annual costs running at an all-time high of £14.3million – the charity will be relying on voluntary support to the tune of £11million this year alone to continue providing its services.
Ruth Freeman, chief executive officer at The Myton Hospices, said: “At The Myton Hospices, we passionately believe that every person who needs a hospice bed should have access to one and that no one who is at the end of life should be on a waiting list. But there just aren’t enough hospice beds in Coventry and Warwickshire to meet the demand.
“Everyone has the right to a good death with their loved ones supported, and we need urgent help to ensure we can provide the people of Coventry and Warwickshire with the palliative and end of life care they need and deserve.”
Visit www.mytonhospice.org/Appeal for more information and to donate.
