Hospice charity facing £1m hole in finances
BBCA hospice is facing a deficit of more than £1m this year.
St Oswald's Hospice chief executive Steph Edusei said escalating costs, including a rise in employers' national insurance contributions, had left the charity with a "very big" financial shortfall.
She told Newcastle City Council's health scrutiny committee that the Gosforth-based organisation had reserves it could fall back on, but could not sustain this position "year on year".
She also said inflation rate hikes, keeping pace with NHS pay rises and national minimum wage increases had also pushed up St Oswald's bills.
The hospice has been providing short breaks and end-of-life care for babies and children in Northumberland, Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham since 2003.
It opened as a result of a fundraising campaign, the Jigsaw Appeal, which began in 1999.
Ms Edusei also criticised the abolition of NHS England, saying the shifting sands within the nation's healthcare system was a "nightmare", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
She said: "We are okay because we have some reserves, but we are only okay for a few years.
"We cannot maintain that kind of position year on year."
Committee chair Wendy Taylor called it "utterly ridiculous" that NHS funding did not fully cover hospices' costs.
The Liberal Democrat said it was "crazy situation" at a time when health chiefs were trying to stop unnecessary trips to A&E.
The government announced in March that it would be abolishing the "arms-length" body NHS England and was taking management into the Department of Health and Social Care.
Ms Edusei called the decision an "absolute nightmare" and said that repeated reorganisations had already caused disruption to attempts to improve services and plan for the future.
St Oswald's was awarded £252,524 as part of a £25m release of government funding in February for hospice upgrades and refurbishment.
Care minister Stephen Kinnock called it the "largest investment in a generation to help transform hospice facilities across England".