Sue Ryder Care specialises in palliative care, neurological care and homecare. Alarmingly, the charity’s latest survey found that none of its commissioners, which include primary care trusts and social services, pay the true cost of the basic care they commission. This is despite the government commitment in 2002 that, by April 2006, ‘full cost recovery’ should be in place for voluntary providers of care (Cross cutting review: The role of the voluntary sector in service delivery HM Treasury, 2002). The current situation is unsustainable – Sue Ryder Care supports a £7 million shortfall in statutory funding for services commissioned by the state through regional commissioning.

Local commissioning inequalities perpetuate the ‘postcode lottery’ of hospice and neurological care services, and charities such as Sue Ryder Care are forced to use voluntary income from donations to meet statutory shortfalls instead of developing new services, maintaining facilities and offering extra support to those in need.

Sue Ryder Care is a specialist provider of modern healthcare, coping with a funding mechanism based on Victorian era philanthropy. While the state is providing payment in grant form, there is a feeling that it is doing charities a favour – when the bottom line is, if services are provided to an agreed standard why shouldn’t costs of care be fully met?

Sue Ryder Care seeks to work in full and equitable partnership with the state and regional commissioners and work alongside its partners in the NHS to break down the barriers that prevent the voluntary sector playing a full role in providing the expert care the nation needs.

‘We Care: Who Pays?’ is a Sue Ryder Care campaign that asks government to look closely at the true cost of the care provided by the charity and, importantly, support measures to enable it and other voluntary sector providers to achieve full cost recovery.

http://www.suerydercare.org/getinvolved/campaigns.asp