You may have seen the positive news that hospices in Scotland have secured a £5 million boost in funding. This welcome investment, set out in the Scottish Government’s 2025–26 Budget, is a vital step in ensuring that frontline staff providing expert palliative and end-of-life care in independent hospices are fairly paid in line with NHS pay scales.

However, Scotland’s 14 hospices - including ACCORD - warn that more support is urgently needed to keep pace with the most recent NHS pay awards. With a 4.25% increase awarded to most NHS staff in June, hospices now face an additional £3.6 million funding gap.

Last week, the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, Neil Gray, met with Mags McCarthy, CEO of Strathcarron Hospice, and Jacki Smart, CEO of ACCORD and Chair of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group. 

Jacki Smart explained - “Our staff are talented and dedicated professionals, and it isn’t right that they are priced out of working in hospices because of NHS pay awards decided by the Scottish Government.

No hospice leader wants to face the choice between cutting staff or curtailing pay, but that is the stark reality now. Without action, patients and families will be the ones who lose out.”

Hospices remain the backbone of specialist palliative care in Scotland, with around 2,000 staff caring for over 23,000 patients and family members each year. The £5m commitment is a welcome step forward - along with an understanding from Scottish Government that work will continue alongside discussions about long-term pay parity and funding is welcomed.