Funds hope for Acorns hospice

May 23 2007 By Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail

A THREATENED Midland charity for terminally ill children believes an independent Government review may have secured its future.

Acorns Children's Hospice has welcomed a major review by Whitehall saying it should help the charity get more cash that it desperately needs.

The Government is urging councils, children's hospices and NHS health teams providing palliative end of life care to work together and make funding for the cause more of a priority.

The review looked at long-term funding of care for terminally ill children after talks between children's ospice workers and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"This review is hugely important and we welcome its recommendations," said David Strudley, chief executive of Acorns Hospice.

"The emergency money given to us by the Government in 2006 covers 20 per cent of our care costs, but this runs out in 2009.

"We, therefore, welcome the review's emphasis on partnership working between children's hospices, other providers of children's palliative care and those responsible in local government for paying for their services."

Acorns offers desperately ill children care at its hospices in Selly Oak, Walsall and Worcester for free although running costs are £4,500 per day for each centre.

But the charity finds receives just ten per cent of its income from Government funding with the other 90 per cent relying on public donations.

The review found many hospices were struggling with finances and felt neither the Government or NHS had placed the service at a sufficiently high priority.