Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will extend the Children’s Hospice Grant for children’s palliative care in England beyond 2024–25.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England recognise the important role children and young people’s hospices play in the delivery of high-quality, personalised palliative and end of life care for children, young people, their families and those important to them.
At a national level, NHS England supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people 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 funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. Details of 2025/26 funding will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of ring-fencing the block grant for children's hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits of ring-fencing the funding for children’s hospices, or of the potential merits of guaranteeing the children’s hospice funding for three years. Details of 2025/26 funding will, however, be confirmed in due course.
We recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in the availability and delivery of high-quality, personalised palliative and end of life care for people of all ages, and their loved ones.
As made clear in the Health and Care Act 2022, it is the statutory duty of integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission palliative and end of life care services in response to the needs of their population, including for children and young people.
NHS England currently supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. Last year, NHS England confirmed that it will be renewing the funding for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million of funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This prevalence-based approach ensures funding matches local need.
NHS England has worked closely with sector experts and sector representatives in establishing the current prevalence-based approach to deciding allocations, as well as in determining the proposed mechanism for continued funding in 2024/25.
Funding in 2024/25 will be distributed via ICBs, in line with National Health Service devolution. All ICBs in England will be formally notified of the distribution method to be used very shortly. The Department and NHS England hope to be able to provide the greater clarity that the sector is seeking on this important funding stream to children’s hospices, in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much hospice-provided palliative care was commissioned by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System in the (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24 financial years; and how that funding allocation was determined.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards receive a general allocation to deliver their responsibilities, including those related to palliative and end of life care. There is no separately identified allocation for hospice-provided palliative care.
Jan. 04 2024
Source Page: Letter dated 21/12/2023 from Lord Markham to Lords regarding questions raised during the Oral Question on Children’s Hospices Funding: monitoring of palliative care services and integration of hospice services with other paediatric services, a match-funding system for hospices. 1p.Found: Lords regarding questions raised during the Oral Question on Children’s Hospices Funding: monitoring of
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money was spent per case on palliative and end of life care for children and young people in (1) 2022, and (2) 2023; and how much they anticipate spending in 2024.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government does not hold information on how much money was spent per case on palliative and end of life care for children and young people in 2022 and 2023. Patient-level spend is not collated at a national level, with spend based on need determined during the integrated care board (ICB) commissioning process.
At a national level, NHS England supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s hospice grant. The grant provided approximately £17 million in 2021/22, £21 million in 2022/23 and £25 million in 2023/24 directly to children and young people’s hospices. NHS England has confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million grant funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. NHS England is reprioritising budgets for 2024/25, in light of the revised assessment of financial position and, whilst it is holding funding aside for the children and young people’s hospice sector, it cannot confirm further details, including the distribution mechanism, until 2024/25 financial planning is concluded.
Additionally, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan commitment, NHS England has provided approximately £8.5 million match-funding to participating ICBs and formerly clinical commissioning groups between 2022/23 and 2023/24 that committed to invest in children and young people’s palliative and end of life care, including hospices, giving a total investment of £17 million for that period.
Found: Annual Return 2021 22 Palliative Care Cross Party Group
Mentions:
1: Sally-Ann Hart (Con - Hastings and Rye) areas.As a member of all-party parliamentary group for hospice and end of life care, I am very happy - Speech Link
2: Sally-Ann Hart (Con - Hastings and Rye) and end of life care. - Speech Link
3: Martin Vickers (Con - Cleethorpes) and end of life care. - Speech Link
4: Helen Whately (Con - Faversham and Mid Kent) and end of life care. - Speech Link
5: Helen Whately (Con - Faversham and Mid Kent) and end of life care. - Speech Link
6: Colleen Fletcher (Lab - Coventry North East) and end of life care. - Speech Link
7: Sally-Ann Hart (Con - Hastings and Rye) and end of life care. - Speech Link
8: Chris Loder (Con - West Dorset) and end of life care. - Speech Link
9: Sally-Ann Hart (Con - Hastings and Rye) and end of life care. - Speech Link
10: Peter Aldous (Con - Waveney) and end of life care. - Speech Link
11: Peter Gibson (Con - Darlington) and end of life care. - Speech Link
12: Edward Timpson (Con - Eddisbury) and end of life care. - Speech Link
13: Helen Whately (Con - Faversham and Mid Kent) and end of life care. - Speech Link
14: Rachael Maskell (LAB - York Central) and end of life care. - Speech Link
15: Bambos Charalambous (Lab - Enfield, Southgate) and end of life care. - Speech Link
16: Richard Drax (Con - South Dorset) and end of life care. - Speech Link
17: Patrick Grady (SNP - Glasgow North) and end of life care. - Speech Link
Dec. 18 2007
Source Page: Operating framework 2007/08: PCT baseline review of services for end of life care. 16 p.Found: Operating framework 2007/08: PCT baseline review of services for end of life care. 16 p.
Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any concerns regarding the reported reduction in the number of specialist palliative care beds at hospices, in light of the situation at Kilbryde Hospice.
Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
The Scottish Government is aware of the temporary reduction in beds at Kilbryde Hospice.
South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) has been clear that the temporary reduction of beds is due to clinical and operational reasons associated with current staffing challenges and are undertaking work to address this.
It is the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards to plan and commission adult palliative and end of life care services for their areas using the integrated budgets under their control, including workforce planning and allocating resources for staffing.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what monitoring arrangements are in place to evaluate the effectiveness or otherwise of integrated care boards in discharging their responsibility for determining the level of locally NHS-funded palliative and end of life care, including hospice care.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is in ongoing discussions with NHS England about oversight and accountability of palliative and end of life care commissioning in the National Health Service. NHS England has agreed to include palliative and end of life care in the list of topics for its regular performance discussions between national and regional leads. The regional quality and performance meetings will provide an additional mechanism for supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to continue to improve palliative and end of life care for their local population.
Whilst the detail of the key points for palliative and end of life care are still being discussed, this is likely to include: improved access to care through increased identification of patients likely to be in the last year of life, using the GP Palliative Care Register; improved quality of care, including progression towards around-the-clock access to specialist palliative care advice for staff; and improved experience of care through an improved percentage of patients being offered a personalised care and support plan and advance care plan for those identified. These national meetings will provide an additional mechanism for supporting ICBs to continue to improve palliative and end of life care for their local population.