“We were given less than a week to decide”: Nurses launch urgent campaign as financially-stranded Chesterfield Ashgate Hospice proposes redundancies just weeks before Christmas

The Save Ashgate Nurses online campaign was launched yesterday (Tuesday, November 18) in response to Ashgate Hospice’s plans to slash beds number and cut workforce.

This comes after the financially-stranded hospice announced they would be forced to slash their beds from 21 to just six, leaving 52 of its workforce at risk of redundancy.

The bed closures and redundancy plans were announced in October, despite ongoing discussions between NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the hospice regarding its funding.

In an online statement, a spokesperson for Save Ashgate Nurses campaign, said: “On October 21st, we were informed of significant organisational changes, with some hearing the news via phone call or press before being told in person. Beds are closing, and nursing posts are at risk, compromising patient care.

“We were given less than a week to decide on reducing hours or redundancy, being forced to make life changing decisions weeks before Christmas.

“Ashgate's Senior Leadership has known of the significant financial management issues for many months but chose not to inform the nursing team.”

As a part of the campaign, the nursing staff have called on Ashgate’s Senior Leadership to allow the ICB to complete a full commissioned review into Ashgate's financial management, stop all cuts to the nursing team, stop refusing to allow the Royal College of Nursing to collectively represent the nurses who work at the hospice and meaningfully consult with staff over ways to reduce costs.

A spokesperson for Save Ashgate Nurses added: “We've given our time, skill, and lives to this hospice, for our patients. Now we ask the Ashgate Senior Leadership for honesty, fairness, and transparency in return.”

The campaign has gained immediate support of members of the public with almost 300 people sharing the nurses’ appeal on Facebook and over 500 following Save Ashgate Nurses Facebook page in less than 24 hours.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in the East Midlands has also shown their support for the Ashgate nurses and has called for an ‘immediate pause’ to redundancies and cuts to bed numbers.

David Kirwan, Head of Operations for the RCN East Midlands region, said: “We recognise that these are challenging financial times for hospices, but everyone involved needs to consider the importance of the services to the local community as well as the impact on the staff affected.

“We would urge the hospice’s management team and the ICB to work together to find a solution to this issue for the benefit of staff and patients alike.

"Our concern is that this is just the first step in the complete removal of inpatient services at Ashgate Hospice, as cutting the service to just six inpatient beds is arguably financially unviable.

“The love the local community has for the hospice and the work of its fantastic staff is undeniable, and the support they have given the hospice is phenomenal, but relying on the local community to raise funds is not a long-term solution.

"The hospice and ICB need to find some common ground to keep delivering these critical services.

“It is our understanding that there are further talks planned between the ICB and Ashgate Hospice in the coming weeks. In light of this development, we would urge the management team to put a hold on their plans until these discussions have taken place.”

RCN East Midlands Senior Regional Officer Jane O’Brien, who has been working with RCN members affected by the proposals, said: “This is causing massive concern for our members, who are now being subjected to a redundancy process in the run up to Christmas.

“They’re deeply upset by the management team’s handling of the situation, and there is significant confusion about why this is happening. Despite repeated requests, the management team have refused to allow the RCN and other unions into consultation meetings with their members. “Given the seriousness of these proposals, we maintain that our members require support from the RCN due to our specialist expertise. We did ask Ashgate Hospice to suspend the consultation to allow us to engage fully with our members, but they refused. Now our members are beginning to attend their one-to-one meetings about their future role within the organisation.

“And while they are obviously worried about their own jobs and futures, there’s also a real concern for their patients. Members have told me that they are losing sleep worrying about the patients and what this means for them, and they are devastated to think they will no longer be able to offer the same support and service to local families at such a difficult time.

“There’s no doubt that reducing inpatient beds and cutting staff at Ashgate Hospice is going to increase pressure on other local NHS services, and there’s a real concern among our members that this is going to result in people at the end of their lives facing an undignified death on a corridor in an emergency department, instead of in a loving, caring environment receiving the specialist support that the staff at Ashgate Hospice deliver.”

Ashgate Hospice, which has faced financial difficulties over a number of months, currently operates 15 of its 21 available inpatient beds, with six already closed due to insufficient funding.

Jack Wood, director of income generation at Ashgate said this was ‘one of the hardest situations the hospice has ever faced’ and described the fight to keep beds open as ‘heartbreaking’.

Last Friday (November 14), the hospice launched an urgent appeal to the public in a bid to raise £244,000 to save two specialist beds earmarked for closure.

Saving two of the nine beds would allow around 25 more patients and their families to receive care at Ashgate’s Inpatient Unit, giving them comfort, dignity, and support at the end of life.

You can donate to the Save a Precious Bed at www.ashgatehospice.org.uk/precious-bed and help keep beds open for patients and the people important to them at the most desperate time in their lives.

A spokesperson for Ashgate Hospice said: “This is an incredibly difficult and distressing time for everyone at Ashgate, especially for our staff, including nurses, whose roles are directly affected by the proposed service changes and redundancies.

"We understand why people are upset and angry – we are heartbroken too.

“Our staff care deeply about the hospice and about the people we support, and it’s only natural that some may want to speak out during such a painful and uncertain time. We respect that, and we will continue to respond in a way that reflects our values: with honesty, compassion and care.

“The only way to address these challenges and halt these proposals is through fair and sustainable funding from our local NHS commissioners, which currently covers only around 50% of the cost of the specialist care we provide.

"The funding gap between what we are paid by Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (DDICB) and what it costs for us to provide our care has simply become too big – we are not alone in this; it is a problem affecting hospices across the country.

"The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have been involved and informed as the consultation has progressed. We spoke with them at the end of October, shared full details of our proposals in early November and explained our collective consultation process, which involves elected staff representatives.

"The RCN was invited to hold an on-site member meeting but did not take this up, though a separate meeting did take place. We later clarified inaccurate information shared publicly, and the RCN confirmed their support for Ashgate and have continued to support their members during individual consultation meetings held this week.

“Our proposals are not yet final; they remain proposals while consultation is ongoing. This is the stage when changes can and do happen.

"Thanks to the ideas and suggestions shared by colleagues together with voluntary redundancies, the number of roles at risk has already reduced from 52 to 34.

“Alongside the consultation, we have launched our Save a Precious Bed Appeal, and our community are responding with generosity and compassion.

"So far, enough has been raised to fund the equivalent of four full-time Registered Nurse posts and three full-time Healthcare Assistant posts on fixed-term contracts.These roles will be offered to relevant colleagues as part of the individual consultation process.

"Anyone wishing to support the appeal can donate here www.ashgatehospice.org.uk/precious-bed

“We recognise how important Ashgate is to our community and remain committed to doing everything we can to protect as much of our care as possible.

"We’ll continue supporting our patients and each other and pressing DDICB for fair funding. We’re encouraging our community to do the same through Act Now for Ashgate – this is how we protect our care for the future.”