More than one in five hospice charities have either cut services in the past year or are planning to do so, new figures show.

Hospice UK, a membership body that represents more than 200 UK hospices, said the financial stability of hospices had reached a “critical point”.

The charity surveyed 93 hospices in the UK and 20 said they had made or are planning to make cuts.

Hospices are being forced to cut services like inpatient beds, whilst community services are decreasing with fewer staff to visit patients in their homes, Hospice UK said.

The charity said the state of the sector’s finances was the worst it had been for 20 years.

“Vital health and social care staff are being made redundant when their roles are more needed than ever,” the charity said in a statement.

Hospice UK said in April that hospice charities were facing an estimated £77m deficit this year.

The charity said this week: “Hospices are collectively cutting costs by millions of pounds, with cuts taking place across inpatient and community services, plus therapy, counselling and other services, and across the whole of the UK.

“The new Labour government has rightly made health and social care a priority, with a focus on reducing pressures in the NHS and on improving care in local neighbourhoods. 

“Hospices are ideally placed to help, and stand ready to do so, with the right support.”

Toby Porter, chief executive of Hospice UK, said too many hospices were in crisis.

“The small and wildly variable amount of state funding they receive has failed to keep pace with rising costs,” he said. 

“Many hospices are therefore running deficits which can only mean one thing – more cuts to essential care services, or even service closures. 

“We’re already seeing redundancies at some major hospices, usually those serving communities in more deprived parts of the UK, where charitable fundraising is harder. At Hospice UK, we fear more will follow.”