Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 support (a) adult’s and (b) children’s hospices with the cost of living.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. Charities, including hospices, have already benefitted from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which ended on 31 March 2023, and provided £7 billion of support. Eligible organisations, including hospices, will continue to get baseline discount support on gas and electricity bills under the Energy Bills Discount Scheme from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024.
At a national level, NHS England has released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their systems, including to palliative and end of life care providers such as hospices.
Additionally, NHS England has invested £25 million in the Children and Young People hospice grant in the financial year 2023/24 to provide care closer to home for those seriously ill as and when they need it.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
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 impact of the Children's Hospice Grant agreement (a) continuing beyond 2023-24 and (b) expiring on (i) the current availability of child hospice funding and (ii) ease in which hospices can access funding.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population.
The Government and NHS England are committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. Discussions between the Department and NHS England regarding the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2023/24 are ongoing, and NHS England is aiming to be able to communicate details in the coming weeks, as soon as is practically possible.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
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 adequacy of the funding Children's Hospices receive through Integrated Care Boards..
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population.
The Government and NHS England are committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. Discussions between the Department and NHS England regarding the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2023/24 are ongoing, and NHS England is aiming to be able to communicate details in the coming weeks, as soon as is practically possible.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Together for Short Lives on funding for Children's Hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Together for Short Lives is a key partner in the delivery of high-quality palliative and end of life care for children and young people, having worked collaboratively with the Department and NHS England on a number of important pieces of work, including the development of the Service Specification for Children and Young People’s Palliative and End of Life Care. Together for Short Lives is also a valuable member of NHS England’s Children’s Hospice Grant Working Group, which was established to support administration of the Children’s Hospice Grant.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with NHS England on extending the Children’s Hospice Grant agreement beyond its current lifecycle.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population. The Government and NHS England are committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. Discussions between the Department and NHS England regarding the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2023/24 are ongoing, and NHS England is aiming to be able to communicate details in the coming weeks, as soon as is practically possible.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of (a) the cost of living crisis and (b) increasing staffing costs on the sustainability of hospice services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of palliative and end of life care for patients and those important to them. Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. Any assessment would, therefore, be made at a local level.
Charities, including hospices, have already benefitted from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which ended on 31 March and provided £7 billion of support. Eligible organisations, including hospices, will continue to get baseline discount support on gas and electricity bills under the Energy Bills Discount Scheme from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024.
At a national level, NHS England has released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their systems, including to palliative and end of life care providers such as hospices.
Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations that remain free to set salary rates along with other terms and conditions at a level that reflects the skills and experience of their staff.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 ensure that hospices are able to continue to support patients following recent increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of palliative and end of life care for patients and those important to them. Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. Any assessment would, therefore, be made at a local level.
Charities, including hospices, have already benefitted from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which ended on 31 March and provided £7 billion of support. Eligible organisations, including hospices, will continue to get baseline discount support on gas and electricity bills under the Energy Bills Discount Scheme from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2024.
At a national level, NHS England has released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their systems, including to palliative and end of life care providers such as hospices.
Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations that remain free to set salary rates along with other terms and conditions at a level that reflects the skills and experience of their staff.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support children's hospices after the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population. The Government and NHS England are committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. Discussions between the Department and NHS England regarding the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2023/24 are ongoing, and NHS England is aiming to be able to communicate details in the coming weeks, as soon as is practically possible.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the delivery of inflation-related uplifts to statutory contracts with the independent hospice sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. To support ICBs in this, NHS England has published and shared a range of resources including statutory guidance for ICBs, service specifications for adults and children and young people, and further commissioning-specific resources via the FutureNHS Collaborative Platform. Guidance for ICBs is available at the following link:
In addition, NHS England funded the establishment of seven palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Networks to work with integrated care systems to progress and implement sustainable commissioning models for equitable, high-quality services.
NHS England implemented an Accelerated Development Programme during 2022/23 to build a community of practice and develop commissioning mentors, and funded Hospice UK to explore sustainable approaches to future care delivery.
At a national level, NHS England has released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their systems. Additionally, NHS England has invested £25 million in the Children and Young People hospice grant in the financial year 2023/24.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support (a) adult and (b) children's hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. To support ICBs in this, NHS England has published and shared a range of resources including statutory guidance for ICBs, service specifications for adults and children and young people, and further commissioning-specific resources via the FutureNHS Collaborative Platform. Guidance for ICBs is available at the following link:
In addition, NHS England funded the establishment of seven palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Networks to work with integrated care systems to progress and implement sustainable commissioning models for equitable, high-quality services.
NHS England implemented an Accelerated Development Programme during 2022/23 to build a community of practice and develop commissioning mentors, and funded Hospice UK to explore sustainable approaches to future care delivery.
At a national level, NHS England has released £1.5 billion additional funding to ICBs to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their systems. Additionally, NHS England has invested £25 million in the Children and Young People hospice grant in the financial year 2023/24.