Scarborough's St Catherine's Hospice, York-based St Leonard's Hospice and Harrogate's Saint Michael's Hospice told North Yorkshire Council's scrutiny of health committee their position was ‘not sustainable or possible'.

The hospices face additional costs of £800,000 due to the National Minimum Wage, inflation and National Insurance Contributions combined with a decrease in the percentage of NHS funding from 27% to 25% without an inflationary rise.

A St Leonard's Hospice spokesperson said: ‘We want to reassure our community that we have no plans to make cuts to our services or redundancies. We remain financially secure and have good levels of reserve to support our ongoing work in the short term, however, these reserves will not last if we continue to see such poor levels of statutory funding in the coming years.'

An NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB spokesperson said: ‘In England, the most common route for adult hospices to receive money from the Government is funding delivered via ICBs. In December 2024, the Government announced that hospices would receive a £100m funding boost over two years.

‘We are working with partners to achieve a system transformation within the current resource envelope. The funding boost is a starting point towards improved financial sustainability, but the ICB recognises the need to build on this momentum and ensure hospices are integrated into local planning and delivery conversations.'