Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of palliative care.

Information on the funding for palliative care these services is not held centrally as clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for the planning and commissioning of high-quality, cost-effective services that meet the needs of their local population. Any assessment regarding the adequacy and availability of services, including palliative care beds and hospice at home services would therefore be made locally.

The Department, NHS England and NHS Improvement regularly engage with the whole sector to understand the issues they face and upcoming needs and challenges. In 2020/21 in total an additional £257 million has been allocated to hospices in England as part of the COVID-19 response.

To support local commissioners, NHS England and NHS Improvement have developed seven palliative and end of life care strategic clinical networks, working with integrated care systems. This includes the development of service specifications and an investment framework.