Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, submitted a question in the House of Lords on Wednesday 4th of September. She asked for details about funding of Palliative and End of Life Care

The Government member that responded was Baroness Merron, Gillian Merron, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health responded. A number of other members of the House of Lords also responded as can be seen.

The questions and responses from Sarah Mullally and Gillian Merron are below: 

Sarah Mullally: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of funding arrangements for accessible and equitable palliative and end of life care.

Gillian Merron: My Lords, we want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care, including at the end of their life. Integrated care boards are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end-of-life care services to meet the needs of their local populations. This is to promote a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end-of-life care. We will be considering the next steps, including funding, more widely in the coming months.

Sarah Mullally: I thank the Minister for her reply. We know that the hospice sector depends on charitable giving because of the low level of statutory funding at present. This means that the wealth and resilience of a community define the level of hospice services. This entrenches inequalities of place and means that access to hospice services is extremely unequal. Can the Minister outline what the Government are doing to look at the funding settlement, and particularly the wider hospice funding model, to ensure that this is not just another service that has poorer access for those in more deprived areas?

Gillian Merron: I certainly take on board the point that the right reverend Prelate makes. It is the case that the amount of funding that charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area. That, in part, is dependent on the breadth of a range of palliative and end-of-life care provision within the ICB area. I can assure your Lordships’ House that my colleague, Minister Kinnock, the Minister of State for Care, has recently met with NHS England, and discussions have started on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to services and their quality.