Laundry axe costs Rotherham hospice £18,000 a year

A HOSPICE has revealed that the closure of the borough council's laundry service will force them to find an extra £18,000 a year.

Last month despite mass protests, councillor's voted to axe the service, which is used by around 200 elderly residents, because it was not providing value for money.

The Rotherham Hospice had been paying around £4,400 plus VAT a year for the council's five collection-a-week service which ends on December 18.

But estimates by staff at the Broom Road hospice show that a replacement service would cost closer to £18,000 plus VAT, with just two weekly collections.

Joanne Huckett, chief officer, for the Rotherham Hospice Trust, said that the charity's budgets had already been set before the controversial decision was made, leaving the team with a hard task ahead.

She said: "It has always been most cost effective to send our laundry out to the council's laundry service but a good quality replacement service will bring an increased cost of more than £18,000 a year.

"Every penny coming into the Rotherham Hospice Trust is already earmarked for something.

"I don't know which magician's hat we are going to pull the money from. I will not allow meeting the extra laundry costs to compromise any services provided by the hospice to the people of Rotherham."

As well as the increased cost of a new service, the hospice trust will also need to find an extra £1,000 for additional bed linen and towels.

The charity's trustees and staff have agreed that the services to patients and their families should remain free of charge.

Ms Huckett added: "The Rotherham Hospice is a large organisation and we are shocked by the costs of other laundry services.

"I am concerned for the other users of the council's laundry service and how they are going to manage.

At least the hospice has a small but very dedicated team focussing on trying to raise the extra money needed."

The Rotherham Hospice Trust is a registered charity which needs to raise £2.3 million a year from donations and fund-raising activities to support the work of the hospice which currently has eight inpatient beds, places for fifteen day patients and provides support for more than 340 patients each year.

Work is underway to build a ten-bed extension at the site and Helen Mather, the trust's fund-raising manager, said that the hospice needed as much support as possible.

She said: "Finding an extra £18,000 puts pressure on our supporters and the fund-raising team to find fresh ideas to raise the cash.

"There are lots of ways to support the hospice, donations offer instant and welcomed support, offering time as a volunteer in the many roles available helps support patients and staff."