Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the funding model for charitable hospices as part of his 10-year plan for health and care.

We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver an NHS fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, specifically: moving healthcare from hospital to the community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. We will carefully consider policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders, including those in the hospice sector, as we develop the plan.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing National Health Services.  The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by integrated care board (ICB) area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of palliative and end of life care provision within each ICB catchment area.

I recently met with NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care in England.  We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including hospice funding, in the coming months.