Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with NHS England on the adequacy of (a) regional planning and (b) accountability for children’s palliative care.

The Department is in ongoing discussions with NHS England about the oversight and accountability of National Health Service palliative and end of life care commissioning.

From April 2024, NHS England will include palliative and end of life care in the list of topics for its regular performance discussions between national and regional leads.

NHS England has commissioned the development of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together relevant, all-age local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of those in their local population, including children, enabling integrated care boards to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.