BURY Hospice can look forward to a healthier financial future after a "historic" government promise of more cash.

Every penny that hospice bosses bring in themselves will be matched by the NHS by 2004, says Health Secretary Alan Milburn.

The boost is part of the extra £50 million NHS annual investment for hospices and specialist palliative care, under the Government's Cancer Plan.

Mr Milburn gave the funding promise when questioned in the Commons by Bury MP David Chaytor, who described it as "a historic commitment".

Independent hospices like Bury rely for their money on their own fund-raising efforts and partly from health service contributions.

But in recent years their share of NHS funding has decreased, meaning hospices have to spend ever more time struggling to bring in cash to provide services and meet NHS pay rises for doctors and nurses. Mr Colin Caffrey, chairman of Bury Hospice, said this week: "I would be delighted to see the Government giving a bigger contribution. We get only 27 per cent of our costs from the NHS, which has gone down from 35 per cent, and we have to find the rest ourselves.

"If the Government commits itself to a larger percentage of support, we would be able to commit ourselves to growth."

Mr Caffrey revealed that the running costs of Bury Hospice, in Dumers Lane, Radcliffe, were £610,000 in the first nine months of this financial year.

He said that the latest figures showed that voluntary hospices raised £250 million, which makes them the largest fund-raising cause in the UK. They provide 70 per cent of in-patient palliative care, and 87 per cent of day care treatment.

"I'll believe I have the money when I get it," he said. "We will push to make sure that Bury Hospice gets a fairer share. Until then we will continue to provide as good a service as we can within the constraints forced on us."

Mr Chaytor, Labour MP for Bury North, said: "The hospice movement provides a vital service for patients at the most difficult and distressing time of their life.

"I'm glad to see that the Government is now recognising, with money and not just words, the invaluable contribution which hospices make and is building the foundations which will allow them to expand and prosper."