The National Council for Palliative Care will formally complete its merger into Hospice UK on Saturday 1 July.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the modern hospice movement, the merger of the two umbrella bodies will “pool resources and expertise”.
The charities announced back in March that they would be working towards a merger. A spokesman said the merger resulted in several redundancies, with five of the 14 NCPC staff taking voluntary redundancies and two being made redundant. Six members of staff moved as part of the merger, and one moved before the merge. Hospice UK had 57 staff, while the merged organisation will have 64 staff.
Current chief executive of Hospice UK, Tracey Bleakley, will remain chief executive of the merged organisation, while NCPC’s chief executive, Claire Henry, left the organisation to join Hospice UK in the role of director of improvement and transformation earlier this year.
Bleakley said: “We need a bold new approach to caring for adults and children facing life shortening conditions and confronting the taboo subjects of death and bereavement. This merger will greatly strengthen our ability to do this.
“As we join forces we are looking at how we can open up good end of life care for everyone no matter who you are, where you are or what condition you have. It also means embracing conversations about death, dying and bereavement at schools and workplaces, as well as at home with our family, friends and neighbours.”
“Far from being a place where people spend their final hours, hospice care is about helping people to live as fully as possible for as long as they can and supporting people and their families and communities.”
A spokesman for the charities said that they have anticipated that major strands of work from both charities will continue, such as the Dying Matters Coalition, but that the charities will be working out the details in the coming months.
Hospice UK, the umbrella body for hospices in the UK, had an income last year of £5.5m. NCPC, the umbrella body for all those involved in palliative, end of life and hospice care in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, had an income last year of £1.7m.
The NCPC board will be winding down in the coming months. The outgoing NCPC chair, Ilora Finlay, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, will become one of Hospice UK’s vice presidents.
Related articles
