Ardgowan Hospice has carried out a restructure to tackle a £600,000 deficit that has seen it remove its senior management tier.

The move by the Scotland based hospice has resulted in two senior management posts being made redundant as the charity looks “to ensure the hospice’s essential patient and family services remain unaffected”.

The hospice is also setting up a new charity through the restructure “in partnership with other like-minded charitable organisations, to provide financial services support, ensuring savings for all involved, whilst enabling the Ardgowan finance team to be employed by the new organisation”.

It stresses that the changes have taken place as “a direct result of the financial pressures currently facing the hospice sector in Scotland”.

According to a survey by Hospice UK published in November last year, two in three hospices in Scotland have already made cuts or are planning to within the next year. Hospices are “struggling to keep pace with rising costs, leaving people at risk of missing out on vital care at the end of life”, said the umbrella body for the sector.

Ardgowan Hospice, which supports families in the Inverclyde area, is calling on the Scottish government to act on previous commitments to support the sector.

It is also concerned that it has received from ministers only a third of the £450,000 it needs to maintain services this year.

Graham Gardiner, chief executive of Ardgowan Hospice, said: “It is challenging and uncomfortable to have to make these changes, but without the funding we had been led to expect, it was the only responsible option to protect frontline clinical services.

“The hospice has taken responsibility to move forward. We need the government to act on their intentions.”

He added: “Our services remain the same. Our priority has always been, and will remain, the individuals and families who rely on us every day.”

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