Sustainable Funding For Hospices

Through providing free, end-of-life care to thousands of New Zealanders every year, local hospices are providing taxpayers at least $1.59 in health benefits for every dollar of government funding, a landmark report released today has found.

However, the study, Sustainable Funding for Hospice Services, by leading public sector and economic specialists Martin Jenkins, highlighted that while New Zealand’s 28 publicly funded hospices relieve pressure on the national health system, particularly through fewer hospital admissions and Emergency Department visits, they were operating under unprecedented financial strain.

Tina McCafferty, Chief Executive of Tōtara Hospice and part of a hospice collective that commissioned the Report, said that the sector faced escalating costs as it dealt with an increasingly ageing population and patients requiring more complex palliative care.

“The number of New Zealanders needing hospice care is rising annually and, by 2045, the need will have doubled. Under the current system, hospices will be unable to meet this demand because they are already struggling to stay in the black,” McCafferty said.

A key finding in the report is that, due to a combination of growing demand and rising costs, total expenditure across the nation’s publicly contracted hospices will exceed the total revenues from government and community sources in less than 12 months.

The report’s evidence shows these services deliver considerable cost savings to the wider health system, including fewer hospital admissions and ED visits, and quantifiable community and socio-economic benefits.

“For New Zealanders, all hospice care is provided free of charge. Last year, it cost $226 million to run the country’s hospice services, but the government only provided $114 million. Hospices raised $112 million from community donations, fundraising, and other sources just to keep going,

“Conservatively, the report modelling demonstrates that for every $1 the government invests in hospice palliative care, it generates at least $1.59 in direct and wider health system benefits. These health system benefits align with the Government’s relevant health targets.

“By their very nature, hospices are outcome focussed, resilient and diligent in their stewardship of public funding. They try to make every dollar go further, but now, armed with the valuable data and findings in this report, it is urgent that government agencies like Health New Zealand work directly, and in partnership with the Hospice sector to not just create a sustainable funding model, but to ensure it is equitably implemented across the Hospice network nationwide,” McCafferty said.

Chief Executive for Hospice New Zealand, Wayne Naylor said that a new sustainable funding model needed to be implemented, rather than just talked about. If not, the country could face a retraction of essential community hospice services and a reduction in available beds, like the crisis faced by UK’s hospices in 2024.”

“Now we definitively know the economic value of hospices, along with their considerable benefits to individuals, families, communities and our health system as a whole,

“Our message is clear - one hospice bed or one home service is too valuable to lose. The time for action is now,” said Naylor.

The full Sustainable Funding for Hospice Services report can be found at https://www.hospice.org.nz/news

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