A TRADE union has called on the Government to help Helen & Douglas House with funding, warning its 'vital' services could soon fade to nothing.

Unison called for cash from the public purse to help secure the East Oxford hospice's future, after it announced major cutbacks and about 60 redundancies.

The charity in Magdalen Road is set to close adult services in August, provided at Douglas House, in a desperate bid to slash expenditure.

Unison's South East organiser Geoff Ellis said: "This is a hugely worrying time for everyone involved, for staff and the people they care for.

"The charity provides a vital service for the local community, and that's why the work it does should be funded with public money.

"With so many jobs set to go, the support that so many local families rely upon could just disappear."

The hospice anticipates having to cut about 40 per cent of its current workforce.

Trade unions have been informed and have 30 days to respond to consultation.

A staff announcement about the changes, seen by the Oxford Mail, admits the 'enormity of these changes'.

The document also states that the charity’s treasurer John Tennent ‘has resigned with immediate effect’.

It notes that its director of finance, Richard Quayle, left the organisation yesterday to take on another role.

It also reveals two more of its charity shops are in talks to close: Aylesbury High Street and Aylesbury furniture shop, as well as Aylesbury warehouse.

Cash-strapped Helen & Douglas House costs £5.2m per year to run, and it predicts it will have a £2.5m deficit by the end of March.

It receives 12 per cent of costs from the NHS and local authorities, but Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG) does not currently support its services financially.

CCGs do not 'donate' funding to charities or any other healthcare providers.

But healthcare providers can bid for contracts with CCGs, meaning the CCG will buy their services to offer to patients within their area. 

Within hours yesterday Helen & Douglas House received £750 of donations, in reaction to its news.

Hazel Bedford, the charity's director of fundraising and marketing, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the support, and people calling for funding from organisations like OCCG. We are very grateful for the donations.

“Sadly the decision to close Douglas House cannot be reversed in the short term without the committed support of large, sustainable income year-on-year.”

Diane Hedges, chief operating officer at OCCG, said: "We are aware of financial pressures all healthcare providers are under and are sorry to hear Helen & Douglas House is having to change the service it provides.

"The CCG will work to ensure patients being cared for from Oxfordshire will continue to receive any essential healthcare currently provided by the charity."

She noted the CCG does commission services from other palliative care providers, including Barnardo's, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Sobell House Hospice in Headington, Sue Ryder in Nettlebed and Katharine House Hospice near Banbury.

She added: "The CCG keeps all these palliative care services under review as required and Helen & Douglas House can bid for contracts."

Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds said changes at the hospice were 'sad and worrying', and she would write to OCCG to lobby its support.

SUPPORT

A FORMER Helen & Douglas House employee has labelled the closure of adult services 'catastrophic'.

Lizzie Pickering, who lives in Lyneham near Burford, worked at the hospice as a fundraiser for 12 years after building a close personal connection to its care.

Her six-year-old son Harry died at Helen House in 2000, after receiving care for spinal muscular atrophy, and she said the hospice's support was a 'lifeline' for her family.

She said she was shocked to hear about the closure of Douglas House, adding: “I don’t know what I would have done if that care had been taken away from me [when Harry was at Helen House].

“It’s a lifeline. To take that away is just catastrophic.”

The film producer, who left the hospice in 2014, helped to found its fundraising team.

She said illness does not just affect patients, but a 'whole network of family and friends’.

She added: “[The hospice] is the one thing that keeps you going as a family, having that support and, more than that, expert advice on top.

“It’s the only place we were ever able to go ‘on holiday’.”

READERS rallied behind Helen & Douglas House yesterday after the Oxford Mail broke news of historic changes at the charity.

Several reacted to the story on Twitter, branding it 'disgraceful' and 'disgusting' that the hospice does not receive more external help with its finances.

One person wrote: "This is where the Government should step in and help. [It is] a fabulous, much-needed charity."

Another tweeted: "[It is] disgraceful that such an important facility has no priority with this Government."

Naheed Majeed added: "This is really sad news. Having seen them in action first-hand, Helen & Douglas House are an amazing charity that provide vital services to our community."

Also writing on Twitter, Jeff Nesbitt said: "I cannot accept that such a landmark charity is going to be let go."

Another reader said it was 'shameful' that the charity received so little funding.

The Oxford Mail also received similar comments on Facebook, echoing concerns for better financial support.

Several described the charity as 'vital'.

Lesley Spicer commented: "It was and is still is my favourite charity as I would never of coped without these people.

"The Government should step in more and help with finances."

She said she would 'never be able to thank them enough' for helping her family.

Gabi Tait also called for NHS funding, adding: "If Douglas House closes those patients will be coming back to the NHS.

"A combined funding approach should be beneficial to the patients and the NHS."