Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has provided to hospices in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Since 2020 NHS England has provided hospices with over £350 million nationally, to secure and increase National Health Service capacity and to support hospital discharge. In addition, since 2021/22, nearly £63 million has been provided to children’s hospices as part of the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. Separate, further investment in children and young people’s palliative and end of life care, including hospices, has also been made through the NHS Long Term Plan’s commitment to match-fund clinical commissioning groups, and subsequently integrated care boards (ICBs), totalling over £23 million.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to issue guidance to children’s hospices on changes in the distribution of the Children’s Hospice Grant for the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
NHS England has confirmed it will renew the Children and Young People hospice funding for 2024/25, again allocating £25 million of funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as previously used. Funding will be distributed via integrated care boards (ICBs), in line with National Health Service devolution.
NHS England wrote to all ICBs and children’s hospices on 9 April 2024 to confirm the new arrangements, providing the sector with the clarity on 2024/25 allocations they have been seeking, for this very important funding stream.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer on 15 May 2024 to Question 25226 on Hospices: Children, what factors she plans to take into account when considering the future of the NHS Children's Hospice Grant beyond 2024-25.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Government is committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. The Children's Hospice Grant ended in 2023/24. NHS England has, however, once again provided £25 million of funding for children’s hospices for 2024/25, which will be distributed via integrated care boards as part of the Service Development Fund, in line with the move to wider National Health Service devolution. NHS England is currently considering the future of this funding stream beyond 2024/25.
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.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2024 to Question 25226, on Hospices: Children, when she plans that consideration of the future of the NHS Children's Hospice Grant beyond 2024/25 will be concluded.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Government is committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. The Children's Hospice Grant ended in 2023/24. NHS England has, however, once again provided £25 million of funding for children’s hospices for 2024/25, which will be distributed via integrated care boards as part of the Service Development Fund, in line with the move to wider National Health Service devolution. NHS England is currently considering the future of this funding stream beyond 2024/25.
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.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to tackle staffing shortages in the hospice sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
NHS England is seeking to address workforce shortages, particularly in community care, through the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP). The LTWP, published in 2023, sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to grow the NHS workforce and deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. The LTWP aims to grow the number and proportion of NHS staff working in mental health, primary, and community care, and sets out an ambition to grow these roles 73% by 2036/37.
Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations which develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment. The Government has provided £60 million in additional funding to deliver one-off payments to over 27,000 eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations, including hospices, with contracts to deliver NHS services, and which employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to end the funding of hospices through integrated care boards.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
I commend my Rt Hon. Friend’s tireless advocacy for high-quality end-of-life care, through his work on the APPG for Dying Well.
I understand his concerns about potential variation in provision. However, the Health and Care Act 2022 included a legal duty for integrated care boards to commission palliative and end of life care, in line with wider NHS devolution.
Integrated care boards are best positioned to understand and meet the needs of their local population, and commission appropriate end-of-life services, including from the NHS and voluntary sector organisations, such as hospices.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to (a) reinstate the Children's Hospice Grant for 2025-26 and (b) up-rate that funding in line with inflation.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2024/25, NHS England provided £25 million in funding for children and young people’s hospices. This was distributed via integrated care boards, in line with National Health Service devolution. We are currently considering the future of this important funding stream beyond 2024/25.
Mentions:
1: Lord Markham (Con - Life peer) The Government and NHS England recognise the vital role that hospices play in delivering high-quality - Speech Link
2: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab - Life peer) He will be aware that 80% of the income that goes to children’s hospices comes from fundraising. - Speech Link
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of standardising funding for hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
While the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at the end of life, and their loved ones. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the integrated care board footprint.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps her Department has taken to support hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, which will ensure a more consistent national approach and support commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care, including from hospices.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing services within the National Health Service. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide. Consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
At a national level, NHS England supports children’s hospices through the Children and Young People’s hospice grant. It has confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The Government has provided additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations, which employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts. Organisations, such as hospices, were able to apply for the funding if they were able to show they had been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.