The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)
My Lords, I too congratulate the right reverend Prelate on securing this important and touching debate, which was somewhat inevitable, considering the subject. I acknowledge her ongoing dedication. Since chairing the UK Commission on Bereavement and the publication of the report, the right reverend Prelate and the commission have continued to champion this important issue. I am very happy to agree to the meeting that she requested.
I am grateful to the noble Lord and the noble Baroness on the Front Benches, not only for sharing their personal experiences and reflections, which is what this subject is about, but for raising the points that they did. I know that they, like me and the right reverend Prelate, want to improve support for those who are bereaved.
The right reverend Prelate made the very good point that there is bereavement through the loss of a loved one, but there is also bereavement through the loss of what might have been. One such example of that, writ large, is those who have long Covid—and I am sure that we can all think of others. It is always right to think about loss in those terms. As has been said, we all have and will experience grief through the course of our lives. It is absolutely vital that bereaved families and friends have access to the support that they need, and when they need it. That can come from a variety of sources, as noble Lords have described, and I will return to that later.
I assure your Lordships’ House that the Government are looking for the best ways to support those in grief, including those bereaved as a result of Covid-19. On behalf of the Government, I also associate myself with the thanks to those who provided services with full public spirit, no matter what sector they were from. Whether private, public, charitable or voluntary, they were public spirited to the core and they kept us going. I am deeply grateful. I also reiterate the condolences to all those who were bereaved and all those who suffered loss of some kind and have been affected by the pandemic.
Noble Lords have referred to the day of reflection. This year marked the fifth such event since the outbreak of the pandemic. As we have heard, it is a significant milestone and an opportunity to form one’s thoughts, memories and actions as we remember all those who were affected.
The noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Cotes, chaired the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration to consider appropriate ways to remember those who have died and how we should mark such a sombre time in our history. Of course, it is not history for those who are bereaved; it continues to be with them. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, and the commission for their extensive work in speaking with those who are most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, including representatives from bereaved family organisations. I am grateful to those organisations for their work.
The commission’s first recommendation of 10 is that:
“A UK-wide day of reflection should be established and held annually on the first Sunday of March”.
On 9 March this year there were more than 200 events in communities across the country, and we saw how important this day was to so many. The noble Lord, Lord Kamall, asked about a day of reflection in the future. We see how much this day matters to people and how many communities took part, and I thank all those local organisations and communities for contributing to that. We very much hope that will create a foundation for future years.
The day of reflection allowed people to remember the many losses in a way that was appropriate and meaningful for them. It struck me to be very much in contrast to our experiences during the pandemic, which for that period of time were ones of isolation, separation and the loss of the lives we used to lead. There was close working with charities, faith groups and other voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations. That was very much the mark of the day of reflection, and I appreciate the role of those organisations, not just in the day of reflection but in supporting those who experience grief. I am sure we all pay tribute to them and their work.
In Sheffield the city council continues to work in partnership with Compassionate Sheffield, which aims to improve people’s experiences of life, loss and death. Access to support is certainly important; it has been referred to throughout this debate. To give just one example, of which noble Lords will be aware, the Government are prioritising funding to expand NHS talking therapies. That is something to which people can self-refer, or they can consult their GP in order to get to that point, and it is a tremendous service for people.
The noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, rightly referred to the issue of children and young people’s mental health. Again, I mention the expansion of mental health support teams in schools, putting in place Young Futures hubs, which will provide access to mental health support, and the recruitment of 8,500 new mental health workers to treat children and adults. In all these ways, we hope to support children and young people who are bereaved.
On the point the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, raised about PPE, we are responding to each of the reports from the inquiries, and that will be dealt with. I totally agree about keeping people safer and the matter of Zoom. That has provided comfort in a way we could not possibly have anticipated. I noted her comments about ads for very cheap funerals, and I will raise them with the appropriate ministerial colleagues.
The noble Lord, Lord Kamall, talked about culture. Indeed, different religions and communities have different cultures. As he will know, in the Jewish tradition, it is tradition to sit shiva for around a week, where support can be freely given by visiting the home of the bereaved. As my noble friend Lady Anderson reminded me, it is hard to get a group of people together and not feel some form of celebration while giving that support. All these models are ones that we can look to.
On the points made about long Covid—which is a very real issue and will not be going away—we have invested £314 million to expand treatment and rehabilitation services and established 100 long Covid services for adults and 13 specialist paediatric hubs for children and young people. They assess people with long Covid and direct them into ways of care, to provide the right support, treatment and rehabilitation. We have also invested £50 million in 22 research projects for long Covid. In all this, I hope people can be reassured that we continue to support people.
On the question about adding bereavement to the national curriculum, we are reviewing the RSHE curriculum and will look carefully at responses to the consultation on the draft revised RSHE statutory guidance, which ended in July. I will take a particular interest, with my ministerial colleagues, about where that sits.
My department brings together government colleagues to discuss bereavement as part of a government working group on bereavement. It is a forum to share best practice. Today’s debate will feed into that very well. We take the reports from the UK Commission on Bereavement very seriously and continue to engage with them.
On the right reverend Prelate’s point about end of life, dying well is a fundamental right in regard to human dignity and compassion. We have a responsibility to ensure the best possible care. That includes supporting families and carers, including young people, who are involved in that.
NHS England has developed guidance to support ICBs with their duty to commission palliative care services within integrated care systems. That guidance requires commissioners to ensure that significant access to bereavement services be available for families and carers, including children and young people.
I turn to ongoing research. The pandemic made clear the need for bereavement services to offer both practical and emotional support, as noble Lords have referred to. Noble Lords will not be surprised that not everybody knows about these services. Many services are particularly not reaching those from ethnically diverse communities. Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Government have commissioned a study investigating how to improve bereavement services for those from ethnically diverse groups. That includes those from black African, black Caribbean, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Somali, Chinese and Roma backgrounds. I certainly look forward to the study’s findings, which will be published later this year.
Finally, we need to take an evidence-based approach to health, and NICE balances best care with value for money across the NHS. Decisions on whether NICE will create new or update existing guidance are overseen by a prioritisation board chaired by NICE’s chief medical officer, and the prioritisation board is considering bereavement as a potential topic for guidance development.
In reiterating my sympathies to all those who were bereaved and all those who continue to be affected directly or indirectly by the Covid-19 pandemic, I feel that it is incumbent on us to look to make further progress on bereavement support services. I look forward to continued cross-government working—and, I am sure, cross-party working—to achieve this.