Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care will be supported by a) national accountability mechanisms and (b) sustainable funding to ensure equitable access to high-quality palliative care services.

The Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation. Areas of action will be identified for those commissioning and delivering services with associated performance and outcome metrics to support system accountability. The MSF will seek to embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on population need.

NHS England is working closely with integrated care boards (ICBs) to support more strategic, data‑driven commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services. We are asking ICBs to have clear and transparent contractual arrangements in place for commissioned activity across all providers of palliative care, including hospices, to meet population health needs.