20 June 2025, 09:46 | Updated: 20 June 2025, 10:03

By Caroline Ansell

I lost my lovely mum earlier this year. It still hurts but something I will never forget is the kindness and gentleness of the hospice nurses.

When we called for them, they came, like ministering angels, at any hour of the day and night.

They were exceptional. It’s made me so grateful for the work of hospices – a work that thousands of families benefit from each year.

In March, the hospice that cared for my mum was forced to make redundancies.

Passionate fundraisers have thrown themselves out of planes and walked over hot coals to support its work, but it hasn’t been enough.

Our hospice – and others like it across the UK – are struggling to stay afloat. I worry about their ability to cope going forward.

And I believe it will be far more difficult for the hospice sector if ‘assisted dying’ legislation goes through.

During committee scrutiny of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, MPs heard a striking statistic.

Close to half of members of the Association of Palliative Medicine – 43 per cent – have said that they would no longer work in a hospice if it offered assisted deaths.

Extrapolating this statistic to cover hospice staff across the country suggests that thousands of nurses and healthcare assistants and........

© LBC