Hospices care for people at their most vulnerable times, providing essential care and support at the end of life. But right now, the cost of living crisis is threatening these services.
Hospices like North London Hospice typically rely on charitable donations for around 70-80% of their income. But in the midst of a cost of living crisis, it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise those necessary funds and many hospices are in desperate need of support as they face massive increases in their energy bills.
Reducing energy consumption is not an option for hospices as they need to keep medical machines running and inpatient units warm, to continue caring for the most vulnerable. As a result, North London Hospice expects their energy bill to rise to over £460,000 in 2023/24, even with the support of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which is due to end in March.
This is a crisis for hospices across the UK and I urged the Minister to take action to urgently help the hospice sector with rising energy bills.
The Government is acting like the cost of living crisis is over. But people and businesses across the UK are still struggling – and we face a massive spike in energy prices in a matter of weeks.
I am pleased that Labour is committed to tackling this crisis by introducing a proper windfall tax on oil and gas companies and using this to stop energy bills rising for families across Britain this April.
