Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will develop a workforce strategy to help ensure that palliative care services are available to all who need them.

NHS England published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) in 2023. The LTWP sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years, putting the workforce on sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP aims to grow the number and proportion of NHS staff working in mental health, primary and community care, including palliative and end of life care, to deliver more preventative and proactive care across the NHS. The LTWP sets out an ambition to grow these roles 73% by 2036/37, including plans to increase the community workforce specifically by 3.9% each year.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to both people at end of life, and their families. Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations, and are, therefore, responsible for determining their own staffing levels.

Integrated care systems have a key role to play in ensuring joined up workforce planning, working with system partners to ensure effective system wide coordination of recruitment, retention, and growing the workforce to meet the future needs of their local populations.