Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support the hospice movement.

While the National Health Service has been required to commission appropriate palliative and end of life care services to meet the reasonable needs of the population, as part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services an integrated care board must commission, to clarify this responsibility.

NHS England has actively increased its support to local commissioners to improve the accessibility, quality and sustainability of palliative and end of life care for all. This has included the publication of statutory guidance and service specifications.

NHS England is investing £25 million in the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant this year, to provide care closer to home for those seriously ill as and when they need it. NHS England has now confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million grant funding for children’s hospices. NHS England will confirm the funding mechanism and individual hospice allocations in due course.

The Government, alongside key partners, NHS England, will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector on an ongoing basis, to understand the issues they face.