Stark warning issued by Renfrewshire hospices facing staffing catastrophe
Renfrewshire hospices have warned they face a staffing catastrophe unless the Scottish Government meets an earlier commitment around wages.
Accord and St Vincent's hospices have confirmed they face a retention crisis if ministers fail to fund staff wage increases in line with the NHS.
The government had, in its 2025 budget, committed £5 million for hospices and alignment of pay uplifts to NHS pay awards.
But the 4.25 per cent awarded to NHS staff means the hospices will need a collective £8.6m to offer their nurses, doctors and other health professionals the same pay.
The hospices say they fear they will lose their staff if they cannot afford to meet the salaries provided in the public sector.
For most of the lifeline services – who provide palliative care for people in inpatient units and at their homes – the wage bill accounts for 70 per cent of their overall costs.
For Accord alone, it is due to receive £175,000 of the pledged £5m but, crucially, needs an additional £150,000 to meet the required wage increases in the 2025/26 financial year.
Jacki Smart, CEO of Accord and chair of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group – which represents hospices across the country – reiterated calls for a more sustainable funding model.
She said: 'The Scottish Government must urgently release both the monies earmarked and commit the funds needed to help hospices keep pace with the latest NHS pay award.
'Our staff are talented and dedicated professionals and it isn't right that they are priced out of working in hospices because of NHS pay awards decided by the Scottish Government.
'Hospices are the backbone of specialist palliative care in Scotland with around 2,000 staff caring for over 23,000 patients and family members each year. No hospice leader wants to face the choice between cutting staff or curtailing pay but that is the stark reality now.
'Without being able to keep pace with NHS pay, the practical impact is that the crisis in Scottish hospices continues, while patients and staff lose out.'
She added: 'The public are generous in their support but the Scottish Government needs to ensure hospices are on a level playing field with the NHS, to retain staff and continue to deliver high quality care and support.'
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: 'We recognise the pressures hospices are facing and we greatly value the essential palliative care services delivered by hard-working staff.
'That is why we have already committed this year to supporting hospices to provide pay parity with NHS levels.
'We will continue to engage closely with the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group to understand what more can be done to support palliative care services in Scotland.
'It remains the responsibility of integration joint boards (IJBs) to commission palliative care services, including independent hospices, to meet the needs of their local communities.
'As such, we expect Scottish hospices and IJBs to continue to engage on any matters that may impact on the delivery of local palliative care services.'
On average, two thirds of hospice income is raised through fundraising. The remaining statutory funding is from government that is primarily allocated and distributed through local health and social care partnerships.
For St Vincent's Hospice in Howwood, it means the team needs to raise £1.5m a year to keep it up and running, while it costs Paisley-based Accord £7,700 a day.
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