Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) cost and (b) bed-capacity savings from commissioning more palliative care services from hospices; and if he will take steps to ensure that Integrated Care Boards utilise all the available hospice beds in their areas.

No assessment has been made at a national level. As set out in the Health and Care Act 2022, it is the legal duty of integrated care boards to commission palliative and end of life care to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England has published statutory guidance to support commissioners with this duty.

As such, commissioners are encouraged to consider cost effective commissioning from a range of providers and settings, in order to best meet the needs and preferences of their population. We have made over £400 million available to hospices since 2020 to secure and increase additional National Health Service capacity and enable hospital discharge, ensuring hospices can continue to deliver care to those who need it. More specifically, hospices have been amongst services eligible for funding to support discharge and improve patient flow totalling £200 million, information about which can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/discharge-funding-for-step-down-care-200-million-fund/