annual accounts

In 2010 the Hospice spent £2.69 million delivering specialist palliative care to the people of Wigan, Leigh and surrounding areas. Whilst costs directly associated with patient care have risen by 5.8% as a direct result of increasing our staffing levels in order to expand patient services, the support and administration costs have actually reduced slightly. Once again therefore, we are proud to say that, excluding depreciation, over 90p in every £1 spent went directly on patient care.

Almost £1.3 million came from donations, fundraising, the Hospice Lottery and our twelve shops spread across the Borough. We also received over £350,000 in the form of legacies. The Hospice relies so much on legacy income to continue its work and we are so grateful to the many people who have supported us in this way.

We acknowledge the excellent support that we continue to receive from the Ashton, Leigh and Wigan Primary Care Trust which contributed over £1.7 million in the year. This figure included a one-off donation of £500,000 to underpin and support the development of new services in the future.

In 2009 the Hospice was successful in bidding for grant monies from the Department of Health totalling £185,112. This was for a range of capital projects to enhance the patient environment throughout the Hospice. We are grateful to the Department of Health for the support given. The balance of these funds allocated to the Hospice is shown in the income figures below; however the corresponding expenditure has been capitalised in the accounts.

The surplus achieved in 2010 is added to Hospice reserves in order to improve financial stability which is essential in these challenging economic times. Uncertainty exists at present over the statutory commissioning of hospice services in the future with the imminent demise of Primary Care Trusts to be replaced by GP Consortia which will be responsible for commissioning the bulk of NHS spending. A major national consultation exercise is also currently underway to devise a payment mechanism for end of life care and we await the Government’s conclusions in due course. Despite these challenges, we are confident that, with the support of the local community, the Hospice will be able to continue offering its essential services to local people for many years to come.

The following is a summary of the income and expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2010:

EXPENDITURE