Ministers unveil extra investment in charity cancer nursing
- Published: 08 July 2008 12:27
- Author: Alice Coubrough
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- Last Updated: 08 July 2008 12:47
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The Department of Health is investing an £4.5m in a new hospice as part of extra funding for Marie Curie Cancer Care nursing services.
Overall NHS trusts will also be commissioning an extra £3.8m worth of Marie Curie nursing services this year. The charity, like the health service, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
The money for a new hospice in Solihull follows an earlier £10m investment in Marie Curie hospices in North London and Birmingham for development and refurbishment work. The hospice being built in Birmingham is estimated to cost £22m in total.
Ministers also announced £0.5m revenue funding for the development of the Marie Curie Delivering Choice Programme, which allows terminally-ill patients to choose where they would like to die.
Announcing the extra investment at a Marie Curie event in London this week, junior health minister Ivan Lewis praised the charity for 'pioneering new ways of working which puts the needs of patients and families first'.
Marie Curie chief executive Thomas Hughes-Hallett added that through the Delivering Choice Programme 'it is possible to double the number of people supported to spend their final days at home – at no extra cost to the government'.
