The boss of a charity which cares for terminally ill youngsters has hit out at the government over end-of-life care funding.

Chief executive of Bobbing-based Demelza Hospice Care for Children, Ryan Campbell, said the level of care it can provide should not be set by how much sponsorship it drums up.

He also said the charity receives the majority of its cash from people who fundraise.

Mr Campbell said: "We bring in about £10.5million a year and only 12% of that comes from the NHS.

"The rest of that comes from our charity activities.

"We're very, very fortunate that in the areas we serve, people are very generous and we only exist because of that generosity.

"We need to be here forever because the number of children with terminal conditions is quite rapidly increasing.

"Unfortunately, the funding within the NHS to manage the level of need that's there isn't keeping pace so that's where we have to step in.

"It isn't right the amount of care we can give is dictated by the number of people who run the London Marathon or whatever it may be and we're calling on the government at the minute to take a serious look at how children's palliative care is funded."

But not all hospices are able to cope with the price of providing vital care growing.

He added: "Fortunately, Demelza at this point in time is relatively secure but costs are going up because of the way the economy is now, the outlook isn't necessarily optimistic and tragically hospices across the country are finding themselves in some quite desperate straits and we don't want that to happen in Kent and our area.

"We're calling on the government to come and have a look at this with us and work with us to put a permanent solution in place.

"Hospices are in a position now where we're not just doing nice things, we're doing essential things and vital things.

"If we weren't here it would mean really quite a large bill for the NHS and other services."

Mr Campbell said ministers are starting to listen but that cash allocated in the NHS spending review is not enough.

"None of that money is dedicated specifically to hospices and although £25million sounds like a lot of money it really isn't much at all when you divide it up," he added.

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