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 include palliative and end of life care as part of compulsory training for health and care professionals.

We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it, including at the end of life.

The training of health and care professionals is the statutory responsibility of the United Kingdom’s independent regulatory bodies, including the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and the Health and Care Professions Council, which set the standards of proficiency, conduct, and performance required for registration. Approved education institutions and practice partners are responsible for designing, delivering, and assessing education programmes that meet these regulatory standards. Programmes are then approved and monitored by the relevant regulator.

To ensure the health and social care workforce, including volunteers, are equipped and well supported to deliver personalised care to people at the end of life, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, hosts the End of Life Care for All e-learning training programme, which includes nine modules on improving care for people at the end of life.