Katharine House set to purchase new medical equipment and update windows and doors
Katharine House Hospice near Banbury will update some of its windows and doors and purchase new medical equipment thanks to a £147,000 grant.
The hospice located just outside Adderbury will receive the money as part of the government’s £125 million funding for hospices for the 2025-26 financial year.
It comes after Minister for Care Stephen Kinnock confirmed an extra £25 million in funding for children's and adult hospices across the United Kingdom.
Katharine House has said the money will go towards improving some of the facilities at the hospice.
This includes purchasing new windows and doors for the 10-bed inpatient unit, upgrading IT equipment, buying a new bladder scanner and replacing a 12-year-old oven.
The hospice will also purchase two more “cuddle beds”, specially adapted beds that allow visiting family members to lie side by side with the hospice resident.
Katharine House Hospice has thanked the government for the grant but says it relies on fundraising and sales at its charity shops to keep afloat.
Emma Radley, CEO of Katharine House Hospice, said: “We are hugely grateful to the Department of Health and Social Care and Hospice UK for delivering this capital grant, which will help us to improve our site for the patients that come to our inpatient unit, but we must not lose the sight of the fact that it does not help us with the ever increasing everyday costs of delivering our care.
“Our care is delivered by people, not equipment, and their costs cannot be covered with this funding. Additionally, only a fraction of the people we support each year are cared for in our inpatient unit, so many more are helped in their homes and in our outpatient services.
“To keep these services going, we must really work to maximise our income generation. Each year we are grateful to receive some statutory funding, but we still need to raise around 60 per cent of our core costs from fundraising and our charity shops to enable us to continue to provide our specialist, palliative care for free, both at the hospice and out in the community.
“It costs more than £5.9m each year to run every aspect of Katharine House, and so we rely on the generosity of our local community, who donate, buy from our shops, fundraise and leave gifts in their wills to enable us to continue to provide this vital care.”
Katharine House Hospice is one of 158 adult and children’s hospices set to benefit from the funding.
Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury, said: “I know that Katharine House Hospice delivers crucial care and support in Banbury and the wider area for people with life-limiting conditions and their loved ones.
“I’m proud that this Labour government is supporting palliative and end of life care and this announcement will make such a difference to Katharine House Hospice, which provides such invaluable support in our community."
Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock said: “I am delighted that this additional cash boost has now been allocated to hospices. I thank Hospice UK for facilitating this so quickly so hospices can swiftly contract any vital work and upgrades – making sure patients are being treated in the best possible environment.”