Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to embed palliative care in neighbourhood health services.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end-of-life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

Those at the end of life are highlighted in the recently published Neighbourhood Health Framework as a high-priority cohort, making services more convenient, joined-up, personalised, and based around the person. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neighbourhood-health-framework/neighbourhood-health-framework