Derian House Children’s Hospice, based in Chorley, is joining a national campaign calling on the UK Government to review the way children’s palliative care is funded.
A new report from Together for Short Lives revealed that a funding gap is one of the main reasons why families receive different levels of palliative care depending on where they live.
The report – ‘Built to Last? The State of Children’s Palliative Care in 2025’ – found that the funding gap for children’s palliative care in England has grown by £15 million in one year, bringing it to £310 million. The gap is 70 times smaller than NHS England’s budget increase in 2024/25 (£22.6bn) and just 0.16% of its annual budget.
Every year, Derian House supports over 400 seriously ill children and their families.
Karen Edwards OBE, Chief Executive of Derian House Children’s Hospice in Chorley, Lancashire, said: “Hospices play a vital part in our healthcare system, but this care is at risk. Increasing demand, long term underinvestment and rising costs, mean many hospices are struggling to maintain their services.
“On Tuesday we travelled to London alongside Together for Short Lives and other UK children’s hospices to communicate the report findings and our recommendations to MPs and Peers at a reception held by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Children Who Need Palliative Care.
“We are forever grateful for our community for doing so much to support Derian House Children’s Hospice, but we shouldn’t have to depend on our supporters as much as we do to fund these essential services for children.”
Nick Carroll, Chief Executive of Together for Short Lives said: “For too long, seriously ill children and their families across England have been failed by a system which has been persistently underfunded and under prioritised.
“The UK Government must act urgently by holding a full review into the way children’s palliative care is planned and funded in England. We know that public finances are under pressure, yet the money needed to fix the issues across children’s palliative care is tiny when compared to the annual NHS England budget.
“What we need is the will of those in power to act – so that families can spend less time fighting to get the care their child needs and more time making the most of the short time they have together. If ministers are to achieve their aims of shifting care from hospitals into the community in the next decade, we urgently need a children’s palliative care system that’s built to last.”
