Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve palliative care in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

On 5 July 2016 we published ‘Our Commitment to you for end of life care’, which set out what everyone should expect from their care at the end of life and the actions we are taking to make high quality, personalised care a reality for everyone. This Commitment includes measures to enable personalisation, measures to improve care quality and education and training in end of life care and measures to encourage the spread of innovative models of care. ‘Our Commitment to you for end of life care’ is available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/choice-in-end-of-life-care-government-response

Over the last 12 months the National End of Life Care Programme Board has been taking forward implementation. All relevant arm’s length bodies and key charitable partners are represented on the Board to ensure system wide action and accountability. We are aiming to publish a progress report on the delivery of the Commitment this summer.