Ageing and End-of-life Care

Judith Cummins Excerpts

Thursday 30th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

Order. Before I call the first speaker, Members will have noticed that we are pushed-ish for time, so I ask them to keep their comments to around eight minutes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing this debate. It has been a pleasure to see his passion for his community and for the people of Northern Ireland, especially as a member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

Care at the end of life and ensuring dignity, compassion and community in every chapter of life is so incredibly important. I pay tribute to Weston Hospicecare, and particularly to Paul Winspear and his amazing team, who are an extraordinary example of what compassionate, community-based care can achieve. Their current director of patient services, John Bailey, retires in December after 30 years of dedicated services. Paul, the chief exec, describes John as a “truly exceptional” person, and I absolutely agree.

Founded in 1989, Weston Hospicecare supports more than 1,000 patients and families each year, serving a population of around 225,000 people from Clevedon to Burnham-on-Sea and from Cheddar to Weston-super-Mare, Worle and the villages that surround my constituency. It is hard to find somebody in my town whose life has not been touched by Weston Hospicecare’s dedicated team; my family is no exception. Weston Hospicecare helped us during some of our darkest times. I have a personal mission to help safeguard the future of this important facility. Its dedicated team provides in-patient, day hospice and community nursing services alongside physiotherapy, counselling and bereavement support, all free of charge.

Weston Hospicecare truly embodies the spirit of my home town—caring, community-minded and determined to do the right thing—but it is important to acknowledge the pressures that it faces daily. Weston Hospicecare receives only around 18% of its operating costs from the NHS, compared with a national average closer to 29%. The rest must be raised through community fundraising, shops and donations. The generosity of our community is remarkable, but it is being stretched to its limit, despite some of the most innovative approaches to fundraising that I have witnessed. I am genuinely, truly impressed by what Weston Hospicecare has been able to achieve.

Over recent years, hospice funding increases have fallen well behind inflation. The national living wage increase has rightly lifted incomes, and I am entirely in favour of it, but that and other factors have increased staffing costs for many hospices. Weston Hospicecare faces an annual deficit of £500,000—roughly 10% of its £6 million budget—and it has had to dip into reserves, which now stand at less than six months’ cover. For such vital services that mean so much to my community and to the communities around us, we must find a better way.

Despite that, Weston Hospicecare continues to deliver outstanding value. It provides care for patients with complex, multi-morbid conditions who would otherwise occupy hospital beds or require costly community nursing, and it is relieving pressure on the NHS in my town. Weston Hospicecare saves the health system money while delivering really outstanding outcomes for patients and families.

The Government’s recent £75 million capital investment in hospices has been so important. Weston Hospicecare has benefited from it, and is particularly grateful for it, as am I, but we all recognise that while one-off capital investment is welcome, it cannot by itself secure the future. We need a sustainable commissioning model and fair funding for the essential, specialist care that hospices provide, while allowing them to continue raising community funds for services that are so often seen as optional, but which are in reality vital, such as family support, bereavement care and the holistic and therapeutic services that help people to live and die well.

This issue is also about the wider fabric of our communities. In coastal towns such as Weston-super-Mare, where we have higher proportions of older residents, fewer large employers and sometimes higher levels of isolation, hospices—in particular my hospice—are part of what hold our communities together. They offer not just care and employment, but training, volunteering and opportunities for young people to build meaningful careers in care. One of my best friends, John Williams, has been a carer his whole life. All too often, what I consider to be a vocation—a profession—is undervalued. That is something that we must change.

When we talk about ageing and end-of-life care, we must see it not as a burden, but as a mark of who we are—a society that values every life at every stage, and sees worth in all human life. Weston Hospicecare is a beacon of that principle, and with the right long-term funding framework, I believe it and other providers like it across the country can continue to serve our communities for decades to come.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) on securing this important debate.

It is well known that our population is ageing, with the latest census showing that people aged 65 and over account for 19.1% of the total population in Surrey. That figure is predicted to increase to 25% by 2047. In my constituency of Epsom and Ewell, there are brilliant charities working to support the older population, including Age Concern, which empowers older people to live the most fulfilling lives they can while providing services, including advice, medical transport, social support and befriending. Organisations such as Age Concern are a vital lifeline for many, especially following the Conservatives’ failure to fix social care and invest in preventive measures that support older people to stay in good health.

Our older and ageing communities also need to be able to access public services, including GP provision. According to Age UK, the number of full-time equivalent GPs, including trainees, increased by just 2.5% between 2023 and 2024, which is not keeping pace with the population growth of older people aged 75 and over. Many GPs are heading towards retirement, leaving an even bigger gap, so the Government must go further with plans for recruitment. There needs to be a concerted effort to build a strong, resilient GP workforce that prioritises retention and delivers services that stop older people from ending up in hospital due to delays in primary care.

Along with GP provision, access to social care services is vital. With an ageing population, we are seeing more and more older and frail carers supporting their spouses, putting a further strain on the carer’s own health. We need to do more to support, protect and empower older people, so will the Minister commit to reversing the Conservatives’ cuts to public health funding and facilitate a social care system that is accessible to older people, encourages preventive care, and tackles key issues such as loneliness and frailty?

As our population ages, more people will be living with—and dying with—multiple complex conditions. Marie Curie reports that by 2050, the number of people in need of palliative and end-of-life care will rise to over 745,000 people per year, which is 147,000 more than at present. One local family in Epsom and Ewell have shared their experience of struggling to access hospice care for a loved one with a terminal illness. Despite their efforts, no hospice place was available, and delays in pain relief made their loved one’s final days distressing, something that could have been alleviated by better funding and co-ordination of end-of-life services.

Funding cuts and years of neglect under the previous Conservative Government have led to reduced services, which has a direct impact on patients and their families, who deserve dignity and support in their final days. The Liberal Democrats have proposed exempting health and care providers from increases in employer’s national insurance contributions, yet the Government have ignored that proposal and have not provided much-needed support to the social care sector. In a further damning development, a report released just this week by the National Audit Office revealed that nearly two thirds of independent hospices in England reported a deficit in 2023-24. As a result, services have been slashed and hospices have been forced to cut the number of beds available, due to a lack of Government funding.

With hospices and care services under strain, people desperately need support, and families often have no place to turn. There have been a number of successful and ongoing pilots by local NHS trusts of dedicated phone lines for palliative and end-of-life care needs. The Thames Valley pilot advice line led to a reduction in ambulance conveyances, a 35% reduction in referrals to out-of-hours primary care, and a fourfold increase in calls closed with no further intervention required. NHS 111 is a brilliant service, but it is not always appropriate. Access to a specialised palliative care expert can alleviate patient anxiety, streamline support and facilitate better care. That is something that I urge the Minister to investigate.

Will the Minister commit to ending the postcode lottery of funding for palliative care, create a dedicated hospice workforce plan, expand carer’s allowance, and provide guaranteed respite care before end-of-life care eligibility begins? As we manage the ageing population and navigate end-of-life care, this Government must put patients first and prevent a devastating erosion of public services, tackle dangerous understaffing, and support people to age well in their community.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call the shadow Minister.