Lack of funds forces hospice to close service

A lack of money has forced a hospice to close down a service it runs for patients with a long-term chronic health condition.

The lymphoedema service, run by the Mary Ann Evans Hospice, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, shut on Friday "with great sadness", a spokesperson said.

Lymphoedema is a condition which causes swelling in the body's tissues, usually in the arms and legs, the NHS says, external.

In a statement on Facebook, the hospice's spokesperson said it could no longer run the service due to limits on its funds.

Sarah Ison, from Nuneaton, developed lymphoedema in her left leg after surgery for cervical cancer in 1997.

She described the support she had received from Mary Ann Evans Hospice as "invaluable".

"Not only looking after my physiological wellbeing and caring for my limb, but also psychologically and giving me support, emotional support over the years," she explained.

Ison said it was "devastating" and she was "really upset" when she heard that the service was closing.

"Another friend of mine who uses the service rang me, we were both in tears, not just for the patients but for the staff as well," she said.

Hospice chief executive Elizabeth Hancock told the BBC: "It was a decision that took many months to come to, and we just didn't see another way. There was nowhere else we could go."

The service launched in January 2009 and was expanded in 2011, due to a growing gap in care for patients in Nuneaton, Bedworth and north Warwickshire.

"This is a sad day for Mary Ann Evans Hospice, but it also offers a moment to reflect on the invaluable care delivered to patients across Warwickshire North and beyond since the service's inception," the hospice spokesperson added.

They thanked and praised staff on the service and said they remained committed to working with the NHS to "advocate for the re-establishment of a locally based lymphoedema service in the future".

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