Hospice to reopen 'as soon as possible' - charity

An inpatient unit at a hospice in Liverpool will reopen "as soon as possible", a charity's chief medical officer has told a council meeting.

The 26-bed unit at Marie Curie in Woolton closed last July due to a shortage in specialised nursing staff.

Local people campaigning to secure the future of the hospice staged a protest outside Liverpool's Town Hall the day after travelling to London to deliver a petition to the charity's headquarters.

Dr Sarah Holmes told the Liverpool City Council adult social care and health committee the charity recognised that people would always need inpatient care and there were no plans to sell the building.

The hospice has been shut for nine months and a long-term decision has yet to be made as to whether the unit can reopen with inpatient beds.

At the meeting on Tuesday, hospice chiefs admitted they could and should have communicated better over plans for the site.

Councillor Angela Coleman said a "lack of clarity" had "kept people hanging on" and added to the distress felt by those impacted.

Dr Sarah Holmes, Marie Curie chief medical officer, apologised to the gathered campaigners and councillors for the distress caused by the closure of the inpatient unit.

She said there were no plans to sell the building on Speke Road and efforts had been made to deliver rapid response and virtual ward services since the inpatient closure.

She said the charity had not set out to cause anxiety among families and patients and Marie Curie remained committed to providing end of life care "now and in the future" in Liverpool.

She added that the charity had faced issues around funding and cited a £26m deficit in the last financial year with expectations the service would be in the red again this year.

Carole Hill, associate director of strategy, integration and partnerships NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said: "We are working as hard and as quickly as we can to get those beds reopened.

"This is the highest priority for us and we are working every day to move this forward."

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