Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan, what funding his Department plans to allocate to end of life care.

As with the vast majority of NHS services, the funding and commissioning of palliative and end of life care is a local matter, over which individual National Health Service commissioners have responsibility. Local commissioners are best placed to understand the needs of local populations and commission services to meet those needs accordingly.

The NHS Long Term Plan, sets out significant investment and activity to improve the quality of patient care and health outcomes, including for end of life care. This includes £4.5 billion of new investment to fund expanded community multidisciplinary teams aligned with new primary care networks. Based on individual needs and choices, people identified as having the greatest risks and needs will be offered targeted support for both their physical and mental health needs, helping them to maintain independence and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. This includes patients approaching the end of life.