Hospice Funding

Debate between Joy Morrissey and Stephen Kinnock

Tuesday 8th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Kinnock]

My hon. Friend speaks with tremendous and deep knowledge of the sector. I welcome the work that she is doing on the commission on palliative and end-of-life care, and we very much look forward to seeing the outcomes and results of that.

My hon. Friend is right that if we are to make the three big shifts at the heart of our 10-year plan—the shifts from hospital to community, from sickness to prevention, and from analogue to digital—the delivery of that will require a left shift in terms of both funding and reform. It is absolutely right that we take a hard-headed look at funding across our NHS and ensure that funding is going to where it is needed. She will know that the share that hospitals get of overall NHS funding has gone up dramatically since the early 2000s, to the detriment of primary care, community care and palliative care—all the things that happen outside hospital. That is something that we must address and shift upstream, because we will never solve the considerable challenges that our NHS is facing until we make that left shift.

I note that the funding announcement was warmly welcomed by the sector. Toby Porter, chief executive of Hospice UK, said:

“Today’s announcement will be hugely welcomed by hospices, and those who rely on their services. Hospices not only provide vital care for patients and families, but also relieve pressure on the NHS. This funding will allow hospices to continue to reach hundreds of thousands of people every year with high-quality, compassionate care. We look forward to working with the government to make sure everyone approaching the end of life gets the care and support they need, when and where they need it.”

I hope that the measures I have outlined in my response to the hon. Lady will go some way to reassuring all Members of this Government’s unwavering commitment to the sustainability of the hospice and wider palliative and end-of-life care sector.

[Joy Morrissey]

I thank the Minister for outlining what the Government are doing. Will he consider looking at the exemption to the national insurance increase for workers and at allocating more funding directly to hospices so that they can conduct the palliative care that is needed in the out-of-hospital care provision? Although the Government may want to give it to palliative care, there is no directive that does so at this time, aside from capital expenditure. Therefore, could more money be allocated to hospices for operational costs?

[Stephen Kinnock]

The definition of where employer national insurance will be levied is based on the Office for National Statistics’ definition of where it should be, and it is the same definition used by previous Governments. I do not think that point is up for debate.

[Joy Morrissey]

To clarify, the NHS and the staff within it are exempt from the changes. How is that part of the national statistical average, when everyone in healthcare who is under the NHS umbrella is exempt from the changes? All I am asking is for hospice care, which is out-of-hospital care provision and which technically falls within adult social care, to be incorporated into the exemptions already given to the NHS.

[Stephen Kinnock]

The exemption was given to 100% full-time workers within the NHS; in essence, hospitals. As regards GPs, dentists and care providers, ENICs are being levied on those other parts of the health and care sector. Every aspect of my portfolio is therefore seeing ENICs being levied.