Palliative and End-of-life Care: Funding

Baroness Brinton Excerpts

Wednesday 4th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right in her observations, and we certainly recognise that times are difficult, particularly for many voluntary and charitable organisations including hospices, for example, due to the increased cost of living. We are working alongside key partners and NHS England to proactively engage with stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, because we want to understand the issues they face and to seek solutions to them.

[Baroness Brinton (LD)]

My Lords, the charity Together for Short Lives has found that the NHS local funding for children’s hospices has dropped by 31% in the last three years. Worse, the previous Government’s £25 million children’s hospices grant has been given to local integrated care boards, many of which have delayed distributing it. As a result, the children’s hospice movement is in real crisis. Please will the Government urgently review the funding that government has in the past put aside for children’s hospices, to make sure that they receive it?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

As the noble Baroness said, in 2024-25 the £25 million in funding from NHS England was distributed, for the first time, via integrated care boards. As I understand it from the previous Government, that was in line with NHS devolution. We will carefully consider the next steps on palliative and end-of-life care funding much more widely in the coming months and will take on board the comments of the noble Baroness and other noble Lords.