Charity cash crisis has human cost

The potential loss of Marie Curie’s highly-regarded palliative care services from Fife is a distressing sign of the straitened financial times. The renowned charity claims it cannot provide the ideal level of service on the settlement offered by the region’s Health and Social Care Partnership.

It is unclear what the cash-strapped authority has offered but it said a service will be delivered, even if not by Marie Curie.

That may be so but disruption is inevitable and will be upsetting for those involved.

Those requiring palliative care deserve to receive it in as much comfort as possible, ideally within their own homes where surroundings are familiar and accessible to friends and family.

The knock-on effects of removing this, even to a degree, will be keenly felt by patients, carers and those who fund end-of-life care.

The ultimate cost to Fife Council and NHS Tayside could be crippling.

Any authority must be absolutely certain that shaving its budget in the short term will not have long term consequences.

And apart from any financial fallout, it must never lose sight of the human cost of its decisions.

It must be hoped the parties can come together and reach agreement over retaining this vital service.