BLACKBURN MP Kate Hollern has called on a health minister to increase government cash support for hospices.

She said many - including the East Lancashire Hospice in her constituency - were in financial crisis.

Mrs Hollern's partner Cllr John Roberts was looked after in the Park Lee Road hospice before he died in 2017.

She tackled social care minister Helen Whateley on the funding issue during a special debate at Westminster,

Mrs Hollern said: "I begin by paying tribute to East Lancashire Hospice, and the staff and volunteers who deliver exceptional services to people in difficult family circumstances.

"You will excuse me if I get a bit emotional because my family benefited greatly from East Lancs Hospice, and I could not have come through a very difficult time without its support.

"Sadly, many hospices are facing an existential crisis.

"Unlike big business, as energy and food prices rise, hospices cannot pass the cost on to their customers.

"The opposite is true, because as the cost of living increases, donations invariably decrease as individuals on whose generosity hospices rely feel the pinch.

"It is vital that the government address that unsustainable situation because the care provided by hospice services cannot be replicated elsewhere within the NHS. Indeed, hospices take a burden off the NHS.

"According to Hospice UK, hospices are collectively budgeting for a deficit of £186 million. Therefore, Hospice UK is calling for the government to take action to help hospices with rising costs.

"In April, I visited East Lancs Hospice.

"I was in awe of the diligence with which staff supported patients and their families, but I was also reminded me of the support and care given to John, my partner, in the last days of his life.

"The hospice does not receive full funding from the NHS: apart from its core grant, it must fundraise in order to make ends meet.

"The turnover of the East Lancashire Hospice is £4 million, but the core grant is only £1.6 million. That means that they must find £2.4 million.

"I beg the minister to address the funding for hospices urgently."

Mrs Whateley said: "I have been seeking data on whether the rates being paid to hospices have or have not gone up so we have transparency about the extent to which the funding that has gone to integrated care boards to support with inflation is getting through.

"An additional difficult context for hospices at the moment is fundraising.

"That was clearly hard during the pandemic, but since then many households have been affected by the higher cost of living and therefore have found it harder to contribute to fundraising efforts including those organised by hospices."