£100 million in funding announced to help hospices - including in the West Midlands

The Department of Health and Social Care also confirmed £26 million in continued grant funding for next year under what was known as the Children's Hospice Grant.

The announcement comes as the Express & Star continues its Care at Christmas campaign, which is highlighting the financial pressures hospices are under as they have to await annual decisions on grant aid from the government.

Hospices are also facing huge costs because of the rise in national insurance for businesses announced in the Budget, which they are no exempt from.

We have highlighted the work of Acorns Hospice in the Black Country as part of our coverage, and have given readers the opportunity to give a donation for Christmas.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: "Hospices provide the care and support for patients and families at the most difficult time so it is only right they are given the financial support to provide these services.

"This package will ensure they will be able to continue to deliver the compassionate care everyone deserves as they come to the end of their life in the best possible environment."

Care minister Stephen Kinnock said: "I am grateful to NHS staff and voluntary organisations, including hospices, for the deeply compassionate care and support they give to end-of-life patients and their families.

"The £100 million capital investment that the Government is announcing today will allow hospices to improve their physical and operational environment, enabling them to provide the best possible care to their patients."

An organisation representing 200 hospices across the UK had previously called for an exemption to the rise in Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) announced in the October Budget, saying hospices "will face even further financial burden" without such an exemption.

But Hospice UK welcomed the latest funding announcement, saying it will allow them to keep giving "high-quality, compassionate care".

Toby Porter, a former chief executive of Acorns Hospice and now in charge of Hospice UK, said: "Today's announcement will be hugely welcomed by hospices, and those who rely on their services. Hospices not only provide vital care for patients and families, but also relieve pressure on the NHS.

"This funding will allow hospices to continue to reach hundreds of thousands of people every year with high-quality, compassionate care.

"We look forward to working with the Government to make sure everyone approaching the end of life gets the care and support they need, when and where they need it."

Ralph Coulbeck, chief executive at Haven House children's hospice, said it is "a relief" to know the children's grant is being maintained next year, adding that it will "help to support the vital care we provide to seriously ill children and families".

He added: 'It is also very positive to hear about the Government's plans to invest significantly in the wider hospice sector; we hope that there will be as much flexibility as possible to determine locally how this new money is spent."

The department said funding arrangements will be shared with the sector in the new year.

Challenges for the terminally ill in accessing good care at the end of their lives have become a topic of focus amid the debate at Westminster on assisted dying.

Opponents of assisted dying insist the focus should be on providing better end-of-life care for the terminally ill.

But Kim Leadbeater, the MP behind the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, said when palliative care cannot meet the needs of a dying person, "the choice of an assisted death should be one component of a holistic approach to end-of-life care".

A new commission, set up by Labour MP Rachael Maskell and crossbench peer Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, was recently launched to examine palliative and end-of-life care in the UK and a report on its findings will be presented to the Health Secretary and Parliament.

Recommendations from the review are expected to feed into Labour's 10-year plan for the NHS.

To support Acorns Children's Hospice visit acorns.org.uk/Star-Appeal.