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 research into palliative care (a) standards and (b) techniques.

The Department invests in research on palliative care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In August 2022, the NIHR announced a call to commission a new Policy Research Unit in palliative and end of life care. This Unit will undertake research on topics including care standards and techniques. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health including palliative care. The usual practice of the NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics.