The Charity Commission has opened a compliance case into a Derbyshire hospice after concerns were raised about its finances.
In October last year, Ashgate Hospice announced redundancies and subsequently let 19 people go, while reducing the number of open specialist beds from 15 to eight.
The palliative-care charity said it was “devastated” to make redundancies which included some nurse roles but attributed the need to a lack of NHS funding.
“This was a difficult decision and one we didn’t want to have to make, and our campaigning work was about trying to save jobs and services.”
Some 52 redundancies were proposed but only 19 were made following a consultation, the charity added.
Ashgate Hospice has run operating deficits in its last two financial years, recording a total expenditure of £16.3m and income of £15.6m in the 12 months to March 2025.
A commission spokesperson confirmed that concerns had been raised about the charity’s financial position.
“As a result, we have opened a regulatory compliance case to explore these matters further,” they said.
Last November, the commission also issued social media guidance to Ashgate Hospice after concerns were raised about comments left by other users on its online pages.
In response, the hospice said: “Ashgate is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which includes close monitoring of our social media policies and guidance about the behaviours we expect when anyone is posting on our platforms.”
A source also raised concerns that the charity had overseen an increase in its senior leadership team’s remuneration before last year’s staff cuts.
The charity, in response, said that in April 2024 it moved some people from “heads of” roles into its leadership team after retirements and staffing changes.
“It did not change our overall headcount and was some 18 months before the redundancy announcement,” the charity said.
Hospice seeks new funding settlement
Ashgate Hospice has welcomed the commission’s decision to open its case and said it would engage “openly and fully” with the regulator.
This comes after it was alleged that the hospice refused an offer of a financial review by the local NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) to assess why costs had increased.
In response, the hospice said that Derby and Derbyshire ICB confirmed that it is no longer seeking an independent review into its finances.
The charity said it attended parliament to discuss its funding challenges with care minister Stephen Kinnock and Derbyshire MPs earlier this month.
“The meeting with the minister has helped move things forward,” the charity said.
“We are now working collaboratively with the ICB, supported by NHS England, to agree a new service specification and funding for April 2026 onwards.”
