Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people employed in the hospice sector as part of the NHS Workforce Plan.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative and end of life care services, including from the hospice sector, that meet the needs of their local populations. Most hospices are independent charitable organisations that receive some statutory funding from ICBs. Hospices remain free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. Commitments in the LTWP to increase the healthcare workforce will benefit a range of providers, including those that deliver palliative and end of life care services.