Marie Curie hospice unit to close permanently

Liverpool's Marie Curie hospice inpatient unit is to shut permanently after it was temporarily closed last year, the charity has said.

The hospice's 26-bed unit in Woolton was closed in July 2024 due to a shortage of specialist nursing staff.

Chief executive Matthew Reed said it was "an incredibly tough decision" in the face of "significant financial deficits" but they remained committed to providing care in other ways.

Campaigners from the Liverpool Hospice Action Group described the news as "devastating" and called on Marie Curie to allow another provider to step in and run the unit.

Mr Reed said both Marie Curie and the Integrated Care Board - which provides some funding - "face significant financial deficits" and, as a charity, they had to ensure their finances were sustainable and "benefit as many people as possible".

He said the charity would have needed to find an additional £3m a year to meet the shortfall in the £4m cost of operating the beds through fundraising and they did not believe this was realistic.

He said they understood it would "be difficult news for future patients, our staff and volunteers and the local community" and and thanked them for their support.

Marie Curie said its board of trustees "took the difficult decision" after the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board, which commissions end-of-life care, confirmed it could not provide sustainable, long-term funding above existing arrangements.

Mr Reed said the hospice would continue to provide end-of-life care through its home service, which they were looking to expand, and other services.

Clare Beloved, of Liverpool Hospice Action Group, said the news was "no surprise" and "our greatest fear now is that they sell this building off" so it could not be revived by another provider.

She said hospice staff had "held my hand while my wife died" and "were with us at the worst moments".

Ms Beloved said the group was also calling for a public inquiry into the closure.

"For a full year we have watched as Marie Curie gave changing explanations, refused timelines and declined our invitation to collaborate - even when we offered to raise all the necessary funds ourselves," she said.

Matthew Reed said the charity fully understood people felt "very disappointed" by the closure of the unit but they had worked "very tightly" with the ICB to try to find a way to fund the unit, working as quickly as they could.

He added that they had no intention of closing the hospice or selling it.

Independent councillor Alan Gibbons said the news was "incredibly disappointing" and called on Marie Curie to explain exactly where the shortfall was.

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