Staff at Ardgowan Hospice are set to lose their jobs as management try to save money

The bombshell was broken at a meeting yesterday as staff were told the workforce will be reduced from 98 through a process of redundancies.

Seven of those jobs are likely to be from the hospice's retail operation and in particular from the furniture store at the Waterfront Retail Park.

It will close as it has struggled to make any profit and with an imminent end to a rent-free period, it is at risk of plunging into deficit.

A one month consultation is now under way before a final decision is made.

In a joint statement hospice chief executive Linda McEnhill and Keith McKellar, chairman of the board of trustees, stressed the hospice is not at risk of closure and insisted the cuts will have no impact on patient care.

They said: "Ardgowan Hospice - like most hospices in the UK - is facing financial challenges that need to be addressed to ensure we can continue to deliver quality compassionate care for years to come.

"There are a number of factors that have been coming to a head.

"Steadily increasing costs of meeting statutory and regulatory demands, rising utility bills, rising employer contributions to pensions and increased overheads in almost every other area of activity mean we have to increase income or reduce costs.

"Despite all our best efforts to drive up income, the worsening high street retail slump is making charity shop trading extremely challenging right across the UK and the trend for legacy income to decline is impacting on income stability.

"While two thirds of hospices in the UK are reporting financial deficits, and some have even been forced to close, we at Ardgowan are taking positive action to ensure we have an operating model that can live within its means and build for the future."

Despite making savings of £160,000 in the past year by cutting the senior management team in half and the non-replacement of other posts, they say they now need to deliver a further £200k of savings.

As well as reducing the workforce, other savings will be achieved from changing the clinical care model.

The statement said: "By re-shaping our clinical care model and redesigning our administration and support services we will achieve the rest of the savings we need to make and - crucially - will maintain our capability to care for more than 1,000 Inverclyde patients every year through inpatient, outpatients and locally based community support.

"Re-designing the patient care model is essential to meet the growing demands and needs of our community.

"To do this we have to change some clinical roles or, unfortunately, remove some with some new posts created to deliver more care closer to the home for patients and their families."

Mr McKellar says these 'tough' decisions will protect Ardgowan's future and thanked the charity's backers.

He said: "Your support has never been more critical to ensuring we continue to deliver the excellent care that only Ardgowan can deliver to the people of Inverclyde.

"Ardgowan has been serving the people of Inverclyde for 36 years, the measures we are taking today will ensure that, with your continued support, it will be here for the next 36 years."

For nine out of the last 10 years, the hospice has had to dip into its reserves to cover running costs and its coffers are now running low.

But hospice chief executive Linda McEnhill says the cash crisis will not affect patients.

She said: "The growing gap between income and expenditure needs to be addressed without delay if we are to continue to provide patient care for the people of Inverclyde in the future.

"Additionally, some of our services have to adapt to meet new patient need and to align with changed community service provision.

"We know from consultations that many patients would prefer to have care delivered more locally to their home where possible and reduce the need to travel to Greenock for care and treatment.

"Our eight inpatient beds will remain at Ardgowan but we will enhance our outreach services to deliver more local support, treatment and care to those in need with a different skill mix of hospice care staff.

"We are very fortunate to have the level of financial support we get from Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership - many other hospices elsewhere in Scotland don't enjoy the level of support we do.

"We are also very fortunate to have a highly skilled and dedicated workforce supported by a brilliant network of fantastic volunteers.

"The efficiencies we have already delivered and the actions we are taking now will result in a positive future for Ardgowan Hospice for years to come."