Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to research by Cardiff University’s Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Public attitudes to death and dying in the UK, published on 2 November 2021, what steps he is taking to improve access to information about advance planning of care for people with a terminal illness in the context of the finding from that research that over half of people in the UK do not know where to find information on planning for their care after diagnosis.

We recognise that high quality palliative and end of life care should include the opportunity for individuals to discuss their wishes and preferences so that these can be taken fully into account in the provision of their future care, also known as advance care planning.

Resources available to support healthcare professionals in engaging people in advance care planning includes guidelines and a quality statement from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), a specific module within the End of Life Care for All e-learning training programme hosted by Health Education England. Advice is also available on NHS.UK at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/end-of-life-care/why-plan-ahead/

NHS England and NHS Improvement will be publishing universal principles in spring 2022, to facilitate a consistent national approach in advance care planning in England. The principles will focus on the importance of providing opportunities for a person and their family or carers to engage in meaningful discussions, led by the person concerned, which consider that person’s priorities and preferences when they are nearing the end of life.