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A well-known Derbyshire hospice is calling for action after plans were announced to drastically reduce the number of beds - putting more than 50 staff at risk of redundancy. Ashgate Hospice in Chesterfield is urging the community to "Act Now for Ashgate" after sharing plans to drastically reduce inpatient beds, cut staffing numbers and scale back many of its care and support services.
It says this is because it has been forced to make £2.6m of savings due to "unfair" and "insufficient" NHS funding. Ashgate was rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission earlier this year with 100 per cent ratings in four out of five categories, giving it one of the highest scores in the country.
It provides specialist palliative and end-of-life care to around 2,600 patients and the people important to them every year. Despite the outstanding quality of its care, months of negotiations and the support of MPs across Derbyshire, Ashgate has been unsuccessful in its bid to get the local NHS to increase its funding settlement.
Rising costs, increasing demand, and the fact that the local NHS only pays for just 50 per cent of the care it commissions from Ashgate have led to an unsustainable financial situation with the charity's reserves becoming critically low. Barbara-Anne Walker, chief executive at Ashgate Hospice, described the situation as "hugely frustrating and upsetting".
She highlighted the impact of inflation, rising energy bills, and staff salaries on the hospice's £18.5m annual running costs, while NHS contributions have remained low. "This is one of the hardest moments in Ashgate's history," said Barbara-Anne.
"We never wanted to be in this position, but Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (DDICB) does not fund us fairly for the specialist care they ask us to provide. We have been speaking to the local NHS for months now to prevent this from happening - including highlighting how specialist end of life care is fully funded by the NHS in South Derbyshire, while here in the North we have to ask the local community to make up a huge shortfall.
"It's heartbreaking that we have to go ahead with these plans, and we are sure our community will be rightly outraged."
The hospice currently operates 15 of its 21 available inpatient beds, with six beds already closed due to insufficient funding. Due to the lack of NHS funding, the hospice says the number would fall by more than half, to just six beds, putting further pressure on local hospitals, including Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
Ashgate says it already works to a waiting list every day, with sadly some people dying while waiting for a bed to become available. "We are now consulting on proposals to reduce beds further, reshaping some of our services, and making changes to our team structures," Barbara-Anne said.
"These are heartbreaking choices, but necessary to protect Ashgate's future." In total, 52 roles from the workforce of 378 staff are at risk of redundancy, with the impact being felt across the hospice's therapy, counselling and wider support teams, including marketing and communications and HR.
The hospice has emphasised that no immediate changes will be made to patient care while consultation is underway.
The charity warns that funding for specialist end-of-life care across Derbyshire is "unfair". It states that in the south of the county, care is fully funded by the NHS, but in North Derbyshire, Ashgate must raise donations to cover the same care.
"In 2024/25, thanks to the incredible generosity of our community and the hard work of our team, we had a record-breaking year for fundraising and retail income, raising almost £10 million. However hard we work, it's still not enough. That is simply not fair to the people of North Derbyshire," Barbara-Anne added.
"We will continue to campaign hard for fair and sustainable NHS funding, including pressing for an end to this north-south divide. We've been clear for some time that the current system of hospice funding is not sustainable.
"And like so many other hospices, we are facing a financial crisis that puts at risk the very services we have fought so hard to build and maintain. Our ability to offer care for the people of North Derbyshire is being tested like never before."
She said the proposals would mean the hospice would support 600 fewer patients a year. Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield and Staveley, said: "This is hugely disappointing news. My parliamentary colleagues and I have been engaged in discussions with Ashgate and the first Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) and now the cluster ICBs.
"It is very disappointing that palliative care patients in North Derbyshire will lose access to these beds and that workers at the Hospice will be worrying if they still have a job. I have spoken to the new NHS ICB Cluster Chief Executive to make my views and the views of my fellow Derbyshire MPs clear.
"It is utterly unacceptable that an outstanding hospice should be in a situation where they have no choice but to announce job cuts and to close more specialist beds when the care they provide is outstanding and so highly valued by everyone in our community.
"I will continue to press Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (DDICB) to sit down with the Hospice and urgently ensure the fair and sustainable funding that Ashgate and the people of North Derbyshire urgently need."
Ashgate Hospice is currently in a 30-day consultation period before any final decisions are made. During this time, the hospice says patient care will not be impacted, and that its priority is to ensure that patients continue to receive care and that staff are supported throughout the consultation.
"We've explored every possible way to avoid reaching this position, including months of talks with DDICB to ask for fair, sustainable funding," Barbara-Anne continued. "Unfortunately, the scale of the funding crisis means we have to take difficult decisions to ensure Ashgate survives and is here for future generations in our community when they need us most."
Derbyshire Live has contacted Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board for a statement.