Care home and hospice chiefs say they will face a "struggle" this winter after energy bills have rocketed in recent months.

Tracy Rennie, director of care and deputy chief executive of the East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH), expressed concern for the winter period.

She said: "Increasing energy costs for all three of our fully-equipped hospice buildings and 45 retail premises inevitably brings an element of risk and could have a damaging impact on our ability to deliver the amount of care we need to provide."

Ms Rennie also detailed that the worries for families are "enormous", pointing to the fact that many children rely on life-sustaining medical equipment that needs to run several hours every day, or even 24/7.

Only 16% of EACH's income comes from statutory sources, meaning it relies on voluntary donations for the majority of its income.

This year, it needs to raise £5.8 million from fundraising and donations and £6.5 million from their retail activities.

Ms Rennie added: "It's a triple impact: on our own finances, those of the families we care for and the ability of our loyal supporters to donate, but we continue to do everything we can while always trying to do the very best for the children and families we support."

These concerns were also echoed by Prema Fairburn-Dorai, chairwoman of Suffolk Association of Independent Care Providers, who said: "There's no doubt about it, care homes are definitely experiencing a utility crisis and there will be a struggle come winter time.

"We're fighting for government grants to extend to residents in care homes, but we need that support now.

"By the time they've sat down and had multiple meetings discussing the crisis, winter will already be upon us."

Ms Fairburn-Dorai believes rocketing energy bills are yet another nail in the coffin for the social care industry, which she says is "crumbling" already.

She added: "If care homes close, what's going to happen to everyone in them? If they're finding it hard to make ends meet I can see them closing as an absolute last resort."