Ian Sollom and campaigners hand in petition to No 10 Downing Street to ave Arthur Rank Hospice

On Monday (3 November), I joined my constituent, Vivien Biggs, along with Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrat MP colleagues and campaigners to hand in a petition to No 10 Downing Street calling for beds to be saved at Arthur Rank Hospice.

The petition, which has over 16,000 signatures, is the latest stage in the joint campaign launched by me, Charlotte Cane, MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, and Pippa Heylings, MP for South Cambridgeshire, in September. It is also part of the Liberal Democrats’ national campaign calling for urgent government action to protect vital hospice services, so we were joined by Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Helen Morgan.

Arthur Rank Hospice is set to lose £829,000 in funding from Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust due to pressures on its budget, which is allocated by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System. This cut will force the closure of nine out of 23 beds, leaving more than 200 patients a year without access to hospice care and placing further pressure on already overstretched hospital wards.

Outside the door to No 10, I stood with my fellow MPs and our constituents – Vivien Biggs, Lisa Smart and Valerie Barrett – whose family members were cared for by the hospice, as well as Rick Nelms who is currently receiving care. We were also joined by the Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Cambridge, Cheney Payne.

We called on the Prime Minister and his government to restore the funding deficit to ensure all 23 beds at the Arthur Rank Hospice remain open; to provide long-term, sustainable funding for the hospice's palliative care services; and to properly roll out nationally the move from hospital to community care, with hospices and GPs at its heart.

Everyone deserves access to excellent care right up until the very end of their lives. We must not let a funding failure deny dying patients and their families the dignity and support they deserve.

Thank you to everyone who signed the petition and continues to support our campaign.