MILFORD Care Centre is to be fully funded from this coming February under a €18.6 million government plan for four voluntary hospice providers.
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced the redesignation of voluntary hospice providers from Section 39 service level agreements with the Health Service Executive (HSE) to Section 38 agreements. The redesignation of the four hospice organisations will take place this February 2024.
The redesignation will provide a sustainable model of care for adult specialist palliative care services in Ireland and ensure the provision of these core services into the future. A total of €18.6 million is being provided by the government for the plan.
Minister Donnelly said that he was “delighted to announce that the redesignation will take place this February. It means that all adult hospices in our country will now be fully state funded. This is a significant step towards our goal of providing universal access to palliative care.”
“There has been excellent progress made since the HSE established a National Implementation Group to carry out this transition. I’d like to thank all members of the implementation group for their commitment and hard work. We are rightly very proud of our palliative care services in Ireland.”
The Minister praised the work of the voluntary hospice sector in partnership with local communities in expanding the network of hospice services around the country.
He added that the plan will mean certainty for staff and finances in the four facilities.
“It will strengthen their core services and mean, for example, that fundraising by the hospices will no longer be required to cover payroll or other operational costs such as electricity and heating,” he said.
Currently, approximately 70 per cent of inpatient and 74 per cent of community adult specialist palliative care services are provided by voluntary hospices.
The four hospices being redesignated from Section 39 to Section 38 status include Milford Care Centre in Limerick, Marymount University Hospital and Hospice (Cork), Galway Hospice, and St Francis Hospice, Dublin.
There are approximately 1,300 staff employed across the four hospices. Provision for the funding of non-statutory bodies is made in Section 38 of the 2004 Health Act.
Under Section 38 of the Health Act, the HSE may enter into an arrangement with a service provider for the provision of health and social services on its behalf. Section 38 organisations are fully funded by the State and its employees are public servants.
