£27 MILLION NOT ENOUGH SAYS ACORNS BOSS

23/24-09-2006

The government has pledged an extra £27 million to children's hospices - but that's still not enough says the man who's had the tough decision of turning away terminally-ill kids from the three centres he runs in the Midlands.

John Overton is the chief executive of Acorns, which offers respite care for the families of youngsters with a shortened life expectancy.

Earlier this year, he had to close four beds in each of their hospices at Selly Oak, Walsall and Worcester because of a funding crisis brought on by “compassion fatigue” in the wake of the Asian tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake.

Since then, Prime Minister Tony Blair has personally intervened to guarantee extra cash for the childrens' hospice movement, and Acornshope to gain anat least £600,000 a year for the next three years.

Overton confirms that this would allow them to re-open at least some of the beds they've closed.But he is cautions: “We spend more than £6 million a year at the moment, so that would still only amount to 10% of our funding. That means we have to find 90% from the public. What we can't understand is that adult hospices receive 30% of their funding from the government, so why shouldn't we?”

Blair's concern has at least forced the issue of children's hospices higher up the political agenda, but as he's likely to quit Downing Street in the next 12 months there's no guarantee funding will continue at the current level.

The government recently set up a committee with interest groups to examine the whole issue of palliative care for under-18's and they are due to report by next spring.

Overton hopes it signals a key change in official thinking. He said: “We don't want to appear churlish because we're grateful for the extra money. The trouble is that we can't be sure it will be there in future, when in reality we need at least that much every year, and hopefully 20% or even 30% from the central pot. Nobody wants to be the person who has to tell the families of sick children that we can't help them.”