Hospices

Thursday 19th December 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting)]

This Government want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.

This Government are determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting and palliative and end of life care services, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift.

This Government recognise the range of cost pressures the hospice sector has been facing over a number of years. In recognition of this, I am delighted to update the House that £100 million in additional capital funding is being provided to support the hospice sector. We believe that this capital investment will help with physical and operational pressures that hospices are facing. This package will allow hospices to create an improved physical environment and allow them to focus on providing the best quality care to patients.

The £100 million in additional capital funding will be spent across the remainder of this financial year (2024-25) and next (2025-26).

The principal requirements for the £100 million capital funding would be for hospices to deliver improvements that directly benefit patients, have a tangible impact on the physical environment and provide value for money.

I am also delighted to announce that children and young people’s hospices will receive a further £26 million revenue funding for 2025-26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

These two funding streams will help both adult and children’s hospices in England to continue delivering the best end of life care possible for patients, their families, and loved ones.

The allocation and distribution method for both strands of this additional funding will be set out in early 2025.

[HCWS348]