A hard-hitting new film by Mountbatten highlights a drop in NHS funding and sends a stark message about its potential impact on the vital work we do at our hospices (Southampton and Newport, Isle of Wight) and in homes across Hampshire and the Island.
It challenges viewers to consider what life and death could be like without Mountbatten, if our charity does not get the funds it needs from the NHS.
Without Mountbatten
Set in an empty warehouse, Without Mountbatten features a glass container and hundreds of yellow balls, to illustrate how less money from the NHS will affect the services we offer.
Staff, volunteers and patients provide the narrative, each sharing a powerful personal story about how Mountbatten plays a part in their lives.
‘In crisis’
Mountbatten chief executive, Nigel Hartley, said,
“It is well documented that hospice funding, nationally, is in crisis and Mountbatten is impacted just as much as everywhere else.
“We will receive around £350,000 less from the NHS this year, for each individual hospice – that’s £700,000 across the group.
“We must find that money from somewhere else, just to sustain the services we have at the current level.
“This film highlights what could happen in a world without Mountbatten. The thousands of people we already support and those we have not yet reached will simply go without the expert care and kindness they deserve at the end of their lives.
“Please watch the film and give anything you can to ensure Mountbatten is there for you and your family, now and in the future.”
Funding streams
Mountbatten is two-thirds funded by the community and gets a third of its funding from NHS, via the organisation which plans health services across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight — the ICB.
While Mountbatten’s costs have risen between eight and ten per cent in a year and, in the last five years, demand for services on the Island is up by 250 per cent and in Hampshire, 90 per cent up, there has only been an 0.6 per cent uplift in NHS funding.
The film was made by Nosy Creative Agency, which is based on the Isle of Wight.
News shared by Lucy on behalf of Mountbatten. Ed
