THE number of patients treated by Bury Hospice last year fell sharply after staff cuts, it can be revealed.

A new report shows the new £5 million facility in Rochdale Old Road treated 447 people in the 12 months up to the end of March, 2015, compared with 575 the year before, representing a 22.25 per cent drop.

Published on Friday, the hospice's annual accounts report said the decrease "reflects the impact of reduced service across the hospice in the early part of the (financial) year".

In August, 2014 — four months into the period the report refers to — the Bury Times revealed the hospice had axed three clinical managers and replaced them with a nursing manager to run the in-patient unit, Hospice at Home and day hospice services.

The facility's complementary therapist, a cook and a kitchen service were also made redundant and other staff had their hours reduced.

In 2013/14, the hospice made a loss of £617,889 and Bury Clinical Commissioning Group stepped into inject a £124,000 cash lifeline.

However, the new report indicates improvements have been made and lessons have been learned from that troubled period.

It points out the hospice had a surplus of £7,481 in 2014/15.

"The deficiency in income in 2013/14 has been transformed into an unrestricted surplus, which has been achieved by the strenuous efforts of all those supporting the hospice.

"The trustees are of the opinion that the hard work put in by everyone involved during the year will allow the hospice to continue the excellent work it does for the community."

The report credits people who donate to the hospice through fundraising, legacies, the hospice lottery and charity shops.

"The trust acknowledges and appreciates the generous efforts of everyone whose invaluable support ensures that a high quality of care can be given to those patients and their families, who, as they approach the end of their life, seek help from, and entrust themselves to, the hospice," says the report.

To guard against possible financial shortcomings affecting hospital services in future, trustees are putting cash into a 'rainy day fund'.

This will, the report says "enable the charity to continue, for a period of time, its current activities in the event of a significant drop in funding."

The aim is for the fund to tide the hospice over for at least nine months in extenuating circumstances.