Scottish Government announces £9.4mn for Scotland’s hospices
Howard Lake | 16 February 2026 | News
The First Minister has announced that the Scottish Government will commit £9.4 million to Scotland’s hospices in the 2026–27 national budget.
The funding is a mix of previous allocations and a further £2.4 million, intended to support independent hospices, including children’s hospices like CHAS.
This investment represents a step forward in progressing the national ambition for hospice staff to achieve pay parity with their colleagues in the NHS.
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Jacki Smart, CEO of ACCORD (based in Renfrewshire) and Chair of the Scottish Hospices Leadership Group, responded to the announcement, saying:
“Scotland’s hospices sincerely welcome the increased funding announced by the First Minister yesterday. This represents a huge step towards achieving pay parity and clearly demonstrates the value placed on hospice staff and the vital contribution they make to patients and families alongside their NHS counterparts.
“This is an essential move in recognising the need for a sustainable hospice workforce and a stable funding model, and in understanding what it truly takes to deliver that. I am personally grateful for the difference this will make to the staff of ACCORD, who work tirelessly to ensure that the people we serve receive dependable, highquality care at their most vulnerable times.”
She added that there was still more to do. Hospices in Scotland support 20,000 people annually.
“ACCORD costs £9,000 a day to run, so securing sustainable funding remains essential. We will continue pressing for the Government’s promised longterm funding framework – because the future of hospice care across Scotland depends on it.”
Aileen Morton, Policy and Public Affairs Manager for Scotland at Hospice UK added:
“We wholeheartedly welcome the increased funding for hospices announced by the First Minister today.
Nevertheless she pointed out that the sum promised “this “falls short of the £13.3mn needed to ensure hospice staff are paid fairly for their work on par with the NHS. Hospices will need to plug this gap through charitable donations to prevent further cuts and avoid losing skilled and dedicated staff”.
Mags McCarthy, Co-chair of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group said:
“It isn’t fair to ask local communities to keep plugging this gap, but if it’s not filled we will see more service cuts, more staff redundancies, and even more inequity across Scotland in who can access the end of life care they need.”
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.