Supporters urged to show how important Marie Curie Hospice is to city

Marie Curie supporters have been encouraged to show how important its Woolton Hospice is to the city by attending a public meeting being held Monday.

The event’s been organised to discuss the future of the hospice’s in-patient ward which has been closed since last July.

Because spaces at the meeting at Woolton Golf Club are limited and need to be booked in advance Cllr Lucy Williams, who’s one of several local councillors – along with Liverpool MPs – leading the campaign to keep it open, has urged people to act now and secure their places.

Cllr Williams says:

“This is so important and people need to be there to raise their concerns and ask questions.

“We need to show how important and vital the in-patient ward at the Marie Curie Hospice is to Liverpool and the community around it.”

“You might not need the hospice now.

“But either you, or a family member, or a friend, sadly will need it in the future and we have to make sure it is still there for everyone when and if that time comes.

“When it comes to end-of-life care, many people choose in-patient care so they can be looked after and cared for in their final days or weeks. We cannot allow that service at Marie Curie Hospice in Woolton to stay closed – it needs to be reopened.”

The 26-bed unit where people with terminal illnesses are supported and cared for has been closed ‘temporarily’ since July last year.

But concerns have grown as the months have passed, and there were earlier claims that staff had been told ‘it has no future’.

Independent councillor for Garston Lucy Williams, who’s supported by Much Woolton & Hunts Cross Lib Dem Cllr Josie Mullen, and leader and deputy leaders of Liverpool Community Independents Group Cllrs Alan Gibbons and Sam Gorst, says the news leaves families, patients and staff facing an uncertain future – and raises serious concerns about the impact on end-of-life care in the area.

“For it to close would be shameful, and a devastating loss to our community,” she has said.

Hundreds of people have attended demonstrations in support of the unit, and councillors and staff have met hospice leaders.

In an update about the in-patient unit published on the Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool website, it says:

“In the interest of patient safety, Marie Curie took the difficult but necessary decision to pause admissions to the in-patient unit at our hospice in Liverpool last summer. Like many other care providers, Marie Curie in Liverpool has experienced challenges recruiting and retaining the number of staff required to safely run the unit. 

“We’re very sorry for the concern this has caused and understand how this has impacted our patients, staff, volunteers, supporters and the local community.”

Marie Curie says it is continuing to work with Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board which is responsible for commissioning and funding palliative care services which meet the needs of the local population, and reach an agreement which will enable the sustainable reopening of the in-patient unit at the Liverpool hospice.

And it adds:

“The agreement will need to address the funding shortfall which currently prevents sustainable delivery of services, staffing requirements for the hospice, and the commitment to work together on a guaranteed future for more widely accessible in-patient beds across Liverpool.”

The meeting on Monday, it says, is ‘to listen to your concerns and update you’.

Cllr Williams says Liverpool is not an isolated case within the organisation and that other places have been affected by closures; and she says questions need to be asked and voices heard.

“Marie Curie have not given much information since the council meeting earlier in March. Without the formation of the community group and the pressure that’s been put on Marie Curie I don’t think this meeting would be going ahead, and the fact that we have got this far is a good thing.

“But the situation seems to be stuck at the moment between what we’re hearing from Marie Curie and the ICB.

“It will be interesting to hear on Monday what Marie Curie have to say to the public, but we need to ask questions and, crucially, we need to be given some answers. We need to know what the state of play is, and what is going to happen to the in-patient ward at Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool.

“We want the community to be involved in any decisions that are getting made because up until now they haven’t. That’s why we want people to be there on Monday.”

* The public meeting is being held at Woolton Golf Club, Speke Rd, Liverpool, L25 7TZ from 5pm- 6.30pm.

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