The tears were for the relief of having her three children in one place like any normal family for the past 12 months.

But they were also tears of frustration that this was all about to be taken away from Ms Johnston, her daughter Grace, 19 and sons Joe, 18 and Will, 6.

Joe has cystic fibrosis and has been in and out of hospital since he was nine-years-old.

When he became seriously ill at 14, that meant a trip to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne every two months for two weeks' treatment.

For Ms Johnston, that meant loading up the entire family she cares for alone and taking them too.

``I couldn't leave the children here alone and I had to be with Joe - he was really sick,'' she said yesterday.

It all changed for Joe a year ago when he was taken on as a patient in the Hospital in the Home program, which had run from the Launceston General Hospital for nearly 20 years.

But the program is one of the casualties of budget cuts by the LGH and will close in the New Year.

Health Minister Michelle O'Byrne could not help yesterday when asked if she would seek for funding to be maintained to the one-off program.

``While I recognise the value of programs such as Hospital in the Home, as I have said previously, there is no more money for health - hospitals must come in on budget,'' she said.

Ms Johnston and Joe have joined a growing campaign to change her mind.

A social media Facebook page set up this week ``to save the vital Hospital in the Home service'' already has almost 700 ``likes''.

The program helps a range of people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, cancer and those who need regular treatment for infections.

Nurses go to patient's homes to check intravenous antibiotics or other medication taken by patients with mobile drips and to dress infections to avoid them being hospitalised.