Debate contribution: Children’s Hospice: Funding

Debate contribution by Mr Danny Donnelly on 14 October 2024.

MLA

Mr Danny Donnelly

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

14 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Children’s Hospice: Funding

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4590219

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Principal Deputy Speaker. I support the motion. I thank Mr Kingston and his DUP colleagues for bringing it to the Assembly. I ask all Members to support my party's amendment, which will add one line to the motion to ask that the Assembly:

"agrees that the provision of palliative care should be a core Health and Social Care service and not dependent on charitable fundraising;"

The motion rightly acknowledges the important role of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice in providing palliative care for children and support for their families in an extremely difficult and challenging situation. Palliative care is an essential part of Health and Social Care. That must include children's palliative care. I have had the privilege of personal involvement in delivering palliative care to patients. I know how important it is. It requires a wide range of specialists to ensure that the needs of patients are met: doctors, nurses, social workers and many others. We must ensure that every patient is given the highest-quality treatment and support, and that their families and close relatives are given the support that is necessary to relieve suffering and to deal with difficult conditions, including depression and anxiety related to those conditions. That should apply regardless of age, background or any other distinction. Many brilliant charities and community and voluntary organisations provide that essential service. We would be lost without them, their workers and their volunteers. As we have discussed on previous occasions, many community and voluntary organisations have been struggling to maintain their much-needed services, largely as a consequence of the 2023 Budget and its significant cuts to core grant funding — a tragic consequence of political instability in this place — and the loss of vital European funding. A vital service like palliative care should be provided directly by departmental funding. Despite the obvious financial challenges that face the Department of Health and the Executive as a whole, I encourage the Health Minister to do what he can in collaboration with his Executive colleagues and the UK Government to ensure that funding is delivered for palliative care services. In 2016, the then Health Minister, who is now First Minister, launched 'A Strategy for Children's Palliative and End-of-Life Care 2016-26'. It included 23 objectives that were intended to provide an improved outcomes-based approach to palliative and end-of-life care for children from 2016 to 2026. Objective 7 is particularly relevant to the motion and amendment:

"access to 24/7 multi-disciplinary community services and ... crisis and specialist palliative care ... services".

In the most-recent update, in 2021, the Department outlined that, while 24/7 services are available to children in Northern Ireland, the services are provided on an informal basis and in the absence of a formalised, commissioned approach. That reflects the tireless work of the staff of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice and others, such as children's community nurses, but the Department must do more to see that objective realised and a clear framework established to ensure that 24/7 support is provided. As with the Bengoa report, highlighted by Professor Bengoa's return to Northern Ireland last week, we are now eight years into that 10-year strategy. Will the Minister, therefore, provide an update on the implementation of that strategy, particularly those objectives that will support the vital role of the Children's Hospice? To address funding shortages in the Department of Health and the Executive as a whole, we must address the underlying lack of sustainability of the existing funding model. That requires engagement with the new UK Government and the Treasury. We have raised the issue many times that Northern Ireland is underfunded relative to its need. My party has been calling for the implementation of an appropriate fiscal floor to ensure that the required funding is in place for necessary services such as palliative care. However, the Assembly also has to take responsibility for devolved matters such as health. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the Assembly and Executive to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. The Health Minister must take responsibility and lead on the essential transformation of our health and social care system. The blueprint is there. We welcome that the Minister launched his consultation on the hospital reconfiguration framework recently. Fundamental reform of our health and social care system will lead to savings in the medium to long term, which should allow us to invest more efficiently in desperately needed services such as palliative care. The motion refers particularly to the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice. The Children's Hospice provides an invaluable service through its multidisciplinary team, which includes specialist nursing care, supported breaks, end-of-life care and family bereavement support.

It is the only such service in Northern Ireland, and each year the Children's Hospice provides care for over 350 children and their families.

Earlier this year, we saw the devastating impact of budget cuts, with a planned reduction in bed capacity to ensure a continued and sustainable service. After the Assembly was restored in February, all parties correctly raised concerns about the cuts to the Children's Hospice, and everyone recognises the value of the support that it provides. Too many debates and motions here are focused on confrontation between parties, which contributes to a growing sense of disillusion with the Assembly and what we can and have achieved. This is an issue that requires action from the Department of Health but also a coordinated approach from the Executive more broadly. I hope that we can show that we are capable of delivering on such an important issue. It is right that the Assembly take the opportunity to recognise the vital role of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice in providing palliative care to children and their families. The recent financial pressures have been extremely concerning, and we must do what we can to deliver sustainable funding for the Children's Hospice. Our amendment is intended to reflect the importance of palliative care in the Children's Hospice and more widely. That should be a key priority for the Department of Health. For the reasons that I have outlined, I encourage the Minister to do what he can to reinstate that vital funding, and I encourage all Members to support our amendment.

1,032 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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