Zoe's Place questions answered as fight to save baby hospice continues
Following the shock announcement earlier this month that Zoe's Place baby hospice would close its doors for good at the end of the year, Merseyside has come together to try to save the much-loved centre. Thousands of people have taken part in fundraising initiatives to help the hospice, which has supported countless local families in their most difficult moments.
It is a complex issue, and many ECHO readers have asked questions about why Zoe's Place is on the brink, and what the current situation is for the baby hospice. In this explainer, we have compiled a list of key questions about Zoe's Place and tried to answer them as fully as possible.
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What is Zoe's Place and what services does it provide?
Zoe's Place was founded in Liverpool by Professor Jack Scarisbrick in 1995. The name Zoe’s Place was chosen because Zoe means 'gift of life' in Greek. In 2004 a second Zoe’s Place was opened in Middlesbrough and in 2011 the third hospice opened in Coventry.
Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice supports babies and young children who have complex illnesses or disabilities from birth to age five. The hospice offers respite care for families in need of a break from caring for children with complex needs. Earlier this month, Stephanie Perry told the ECHO about taking her daughter Robyn to Zoe's Place for respite care, describing the facility as a "lifeline".
Zoe's Place also offers palliative and end of life care for children, as well as bereavement care for families and children after death, regardless of whether they accessed the hospice for end-of-life care. Lauren and Faye Sweeney-Cummins turned to Zoe's Place after losing their beloved daughter Sofia-Loren in March 2022 following a stillbirth.
Why aren't hospices like Zoe's Place publicly funded?
Hospices, which provide palliative and end of life care for terminally ill people, are charities. Hospice care hasn’t always been seen as being a part of mainstream medicine, so hospice facilities have tended to emerge independently.
In many areas, it has been up to local people to set up and run hospices in their area, rather than the health service. Although they are partially funded by the government, hospices are not part of the NHS.
The NHS funds, on average, less than 30% of the cost of all of the care that hospices provide. A recent analysis by Hospice UK estimated a shortfall of around £100 million in hospice funding for this year alone. Hospices like Zoe's Place must make up for the shortfall in funding by raising funds independently.
Why is Zoe's place under threat?
The charity had been hoping to build a new hospice near to its current location, and in September this year, plans were approved to refurbish a former villa on the former bowling green at Hayman's Green in West Derby. This came after a huge fundraising drive was launched to pay for the new facility.
But charity bosses said the time taken to get planning permission has left insufficient time to construct the building. This, along with a 'significant rise' in the projected costs and 'the challenge of raising funding in the current economic climate' means there are now insufficient funds available for the project.
The land on which Zoe's Place sits is owned by the Catholic order the Institute of Our Lady of Mercy. The Trustees of the Institute told the ECHO earlier this month they were "saddened to hear of the closure of Zoe's Place Hospice would take place by the end of December 2024, six months before the expiry of its extended lease."
They explained that they are planning to move from the West Derby site and ultimately sell it, but claimed they had been discussing this with the hospice since 2021.
Sister Bernadette from the Institute, said: "We are sorry to hear that the Zoe’s Place Trustees have decided, sadly, that there is insufficient time and money to relocate the hospice. The closure of Zoe’s Place, Liverpool will cause upheaval and pain for children, families and staff. Given our ageing community and a greatly reduced number of sisters, we took the difficult decision some time ago that the Institute could no longer have a presence on the Yew Tree Lane site."
The institute also said it had given Zoe's Place a two-year rent-free period and had extended its lease until next June. In May this year the Institute said it was approached by Zoe’s Place about the possibility of extending their lease for a further period beyond the end of June 2025. A spokesperson added: "We advised them that, unfortunately, this was not possible due to the potential sale of the site which has been planned for some time."
What is the cut-off date for the money to be raised and what would the new facility be like?
The charity needs £5 million to build a new facility that will mean it can stay in the city. This is in addition to the money already raised prior to the October 7 announcement that it would close. The ECHO understands that the cut-off date to raise the funds is November 9, 2024.
If sufficient funds are raised in time, the plan is to continue with the original construction plans that were in place before the October 7 announcement. In September, a planning application for the former bowling green and Victorian villa at Hayman’s Green was approved by the city council’s planning committee.
There were plans in place to build a 7,400 sq ft extension, enabling the hospice to have a hydrotherapy pool, specialist rooms for counselling, and sensory and soft play spaces. The new Zoe’s Place site would also have four bedrooms, family residential areas, and two bereavement suites, as well as landscaped outdoor areas.
Can other children's hospices in the region take in families from Zoe's Place?
There is another children's hospice on Merseyside, but it is not in a position to cover the care needs for all Zoe's Place patients and families.
Claire House provides help for seriously and terminally ill babies, children and young people, with two sites - a full hospice in Bebington and a second site in West Derby - offering day-care, complementary therapies, clinics, play and music sessions, and counselling.
Claire House has a wider remit than that of Zoe's Place. In addition to offering support to parents and babies, Claire House also works with children and young people up to the age of 25. Zoe's Place, meanwhile, is a specialist baby hospice.
In an interview with the ECHO, Hannah Shannon from Claire House clarified what the hospice will be able to offer families who currently attend Zoe's Place. She said: "Our hearts go out to the staff at Zoe's Place and the families who use it. We want to reassure families as much as we can. But we probably won't be able to take in all the children from Zoe's Place. We can only look after the sickest of the children - those in need of palliative and end-of-life care. We can only do it for a limited number of children.
"But just because they don't meet the criteria doesn't mean they don't have needs. This shows why both services are needed - Zoe's Place and Claire House. It's not a question of one or the other.
"There is a massive gap in funding for organisations like ours. Last year, we looked after over 100 children at the end of their life. We are dependent on local commissioning money and funding from local authorities to stay open. We also rely heavily on donations from the public. It's a desperate situation for everybody."
How far are we from reaching the fundraising goal?
Zoe's Place haven't yet given definitive figures on where they are with fundraising. Speaking to the ECHO last week, Matt Meaney, the hospice's head of fundraising, explained: "We're conscious the public is invested in this financially and emotionally, so we want to provide an accurate figure. We're working on that. Watch this space for the total very soon."
Matt added: "In addition to what you see on the Just Giving page, there's stuff coming in that hasn't been reflected there - money that comes in through the bank or through cash or cheques doesn't go through there straightaway."