An end-of-life charity has announced plans to close one of its services and pause another as it looks to futureproof its operations amid financial pressures.
The Shakespeare Hospice in Stratford-upon-Avon announced it will close its occupational therapy offer at the end of September and pause its day hospice services from October.
The charity has also reduced some of its nursing services, restructured its hospice’s therapy services, and reduced elements of its children and family support services.
In a statement, the hospice said it had to review its use of funds at a time when hospices are “navigating one of the most difficult funding climates our sector has ever faced”.
The Shakespeare Hospice recorded an income of £2.2m and costs of £3m, according to its latest accounts for the year to the end of March 2025.
Tracey Sheridan, chief executive of The Shakespeare Hospice, said the proposed changes were expected to result in a “small number of redundancies”.
But Sheridan said just one redundancy was being made, affecting an occupational therapist, since other reductions were made due to roles being vacated and hours being cut.
The charity’s staff team has reduced to 55 employees via this combination of redundancy, vacancy and a drop in working hours – a total reduction of 3.6 full-time-equivalent employees.
Sheridan said: “We recognise the impact this has on valued colleagues who have made an important contribution to the hospice, and we are committed to supporting them through this process with compassion and respect.
“While these decisions are difficult, they have been made with one clear objective: to safeguard the hospice’s future and ensure we can continue delivering outstanding care to our community for years to come.
“We will continue to review and develop our services as our financial position evolves.”
The charity’s statement added that workforce plans had been “carefully developed” using NHS England tools to ensure that any reductions are managed as “sensitively and safely as possible”, while continuing to meet regulatory standards and protect core services.
Sheridan said: “These decisions were not taken lightly and follow careful consideration of how best to protect the services that support the greatest number of patients and families.
“Occupational therapy has always been delivered as part of our wider therapy service rather than as a standalone provision.
“As a result of these changes, patients will continue to be assessed and supported through the most appropriate elements of our therapy offer and, where needed, will be signposted to partner organisations and community services for additional specialist support.”
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