Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that palliative care for seriously ill children is not dependent on where they live.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. We know there are inequalities in access to high-quality palliative and end of life care, and we, alongside NHS England, are looking at how best to reduce these.

NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications, which outline areas for consideration when commissioning palliative and end of life care services and, within this, there is reference to improving equity of access and reducing inequity in outcomes and experiences. Additionally, NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling integrated care boards to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.