Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of ensuring that high-quality palliative care is available to everyone in England Wales who requires that care.

The funding and provision of palliative and end of life care in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government.

Palliative care and end of life care are broad, holistic approaches provided through a range of professionals and providers, generalist and specialist across the National Health Service, social care and voluntary sector organisations. Therefore, the cost of provision is challenging to measure in its totality.

One of the three ‘shifts’ that the 10 Year Health Plan will deliver is around the Government’s determination to shift healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative care and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift and were highlighted in the Plan as being an integral part of neighbourhood teams.

The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality and sustainability of all-age palliative and end of life care in line with the 10 Year Health Plan.

The Government and the NHS will closely monitor the shift towards strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to help ensure that services remove variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.