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Written question asked by Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 12 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 June 2026 (named day). It was answered by Stephen Kinnock (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 June 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.


Hospices: Finance

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support hospices prior to the implementation of the reforms outlined within the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care.

Answer

We have supported the hospice sector in England with a £125 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are also providing approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over the next three financial years, giving them the stability they need to plan ahead.

I also provided an interim update to the House on the Modern Service Framework (MSF) on 4 June 2026 in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, accompanied by a letter containing further information for interested parties. A copy of the statement is available at the following link:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88

As part of this interim update, the National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NHS England has written to systems, setting out two actions to ensure progress is made towards strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services: firstly, produce an integrated needs assessment and understand service provision and utilisation; and secondly, move to sustainable contracting of hospice services.

The interim update outlines that the MSF will embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on clear and transparent contractual arrangements for commissioned palliative care activity across all providers, including hospices, to meet population health needs, with explicit regard to reducing inequalities and improving outcomes for underserved and disadvantaged groups. The full MSF will be published in Autumn 2026.

As set out in the interim update, we expect all integrated care boards to complete an integrated needs assessment, to gain a detailed understanding of their current and future population, including people of all ages with palliative care and end-of-life care needs. This is vital in order to commission the services to best meet that need, whilst providing the best value for money.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
9439
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Finance Hospices Palliative care
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk