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 reduce the number of deaths in hospital.

Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/

https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-west/north-west-coast-strategic-clinical-networks/our-networks/palliative-and-end-of-life-care/for-professionals/early-toolkit-for-primary-care/

NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.