The Myton Hospices launches urgent appeal to tackle hospice bed waiting lists

The Myton Hospices has launched an urgent appeal to raise £240,000 which could fund the recruitment, training and salary for five registered nurses for a year, to ensure more people in Coventry and Warwickshire can access a hospice bed.

According to the charity, more people need a hospice bed now than ever before; demand for Myton’s Inpatient Units has increased by 11 per cent in the past 12 months. Three out of five people on the waiting list for a hospice bed at Myton will die before they can access one.

As the only provider of Hospice Inpatient Beds in Coventry and Warwickshire, Myton is acutely aware of the need for more, but it is limited in what it can provide because of funding constraints. Myton is a charity and provides services free of charge to patients and their loved ones. Myton is not the NHS and only 20 per cent of its costs is covered by statutory funding. Annual costs are running at an all-time high of £14.3 million and they are relying on voluntary support to the tune of £11 million this year alone to continue providing existing services.

Ruth Freeman, Chief Executive Officer at The Myton Hospices, said: “At The Myton Hospices, we passionately believe that every person who needs a hospice bed should have access to one and that no-one who is at the end of life should be on a waiting list, but there just aren’t enough hospice beds in Coventry and Warwickshire to meet the demand.

“People who have experienced or witnessed the impact of being cared for in a hospice bed know just how important it is in controlling symptoms, such as pain and anxiety, by providing specialist, tailored support for patients and their families. Everyone has the right to a good death with their loved ones supported, and we need urgent help to ensure we can provide people with the palliative and end of life care they need and deserve.”

Myton supporter, Tom Cronin, whose wife Katie died aged 37, said: “In these situations, nothing you can do can ever make it better and the best outcome is to never need Myton, but Myton truly is the best place to be for everyone and I can’t imagine anywhere else doing a better job. The incredible doctors, nurses, volunteers and everyone involved took some of the pressure and angst out of the situation.

The impact they had on me, my sons and the rest of our family is a legacy I’ll carry with me forever.”

To find out more about The Myton Hospices Urgent Appeal and to donate now, visit www.mytonhospice.org/Appeal