Why securing funding for Irish Hospice Foundation Nurses for Night Care service is so important

We are delighted to announce that additional funding has been secured to enable us to continue to support and deliver our vital Nurses for Night Care service, in partnership with Irish Cancer Society (ICS), in 2021 and into the future.

 Following ongoing negotiations with the HSE, at a meeting earlier this month, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly committed to allocating €400,000 towards the costs of the service this year. €250,000 of this will be recurring annual funding commencing this year, and an additional €150,000 will be provided on a once-off basis in 2021.

 This support is crucial as we predict it will cost €900,000 to deliver the Nurses for Night Care service in 2021. 

 What is Nurses for Night Care?

 We fund this free national service which enables more people with illnesses other than cancer to die at home. It provides night nursing care, practical support and reassurance for the person and their families in the last days of their life.

 It’s delivered in partnership with ICS using their trained and managed network of nurses. This highly skilled and compassionate care and support provides families with massive reassurance and much needed respite in their loved one’s final nights.

 People are referred to the service by their local specialist palliative homecare team.

 Growing demand

Nearly a quarter of people (23%) in Ireland die at home (Place of Death 2017: Taken from Revised CSO Analysis of Place of Death (2017), prepared by IHF 2019). Provisional figures for 2020 show that 1081 new referrals were made to the service with 822 individuals and their families receiving support and on average, a night nurse was with a family for 3 nights.

 Due to increased service use, increased referrals and an increase in costs and wages for the night nurses, the direct nursing costs of delivering this service to Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) continues to rise. Overall costs are going up by about 10% year on year, as illustrated to date by the graph below.

 This means by the end of this year, we expect the nursing costs, to IHF alone, to rise to €955,000. These figures don’t include administration and management costs borne by IHF.

The future & what is needed

 Since establishing Nurses for Night Care for those with non-cancer related illnesses in 2006, we have been committed to funding and supporting this vital national service.

 This announcement of €400,000 in funding is a step in the right direction and we thank Minister Donnelly for his support. It will ensure we can deliver Nurses for Night Care in 2021. The €250,000 secured as recurring annual funding will also mean there is some stability for the service going forward. However, to continue to provide this vital national service, commitment to additional multi-annual HSE financial support is urgently required.

 Nurses for Night Care must be recognised as a core service and as such should be allocated specific funding in the homecare budget this year. We are asking for a firm commitment from the HSE to fund at least 50% of the service, the other 50% will be raised by the IHF through the generous donations of the Irish public.

 This ring-fenced funding will enable us to meet an ever-growing demand, assist in the development of this vital service and most importantly, help more people fulfil their wish of dying at home, surrounded by their loved ones.

For more information about Nurses for Night Care, visit www.hospicefoundation.ie @irishhospice