Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's 2017 response to the Review of Choice in End of Life Care, what progress his Department has made on ending variation in bereavement care by 2020.

The funding and delivery of National Health Service bereavement services is a local matter. Bereavement care is a key part of the provision of good end of life care as set out in the Government’s end of life care Choice Commitment and Government Response to the Review ‘One Year On’ published in September 2017.

Health Education England, in partnership with Skills for Care and Skills for Health, published a refreshed End of Life Care Core Skills Education and Training Framework in March 2017. This aims to standardise end of life care training and education, including around bereavement care.

The importance of bereavement care is also reflected in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard on end of life care, and other NICE end of life care guidance, which commissioners should take into account when planning services for local populations. Further information is available at the following link:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs13/resources/end-of-life-care-for-adults-pdf-2098483631557