The Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care was never intended to introduce new, ring‑fenced funding. Its primary purpose is to set the strategic direction for improving palliative care and end-of-life care, including reducing variation in access, quality, and outcomes across the system.

In the context of wider fiscal pressures, the focus is on ensuring that existing resources are used as effectively as possible, supported by a shift towards more strategic, population‑based commissioning.

The forthcoming Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care will include a delivery plan to support implementation of the framework. On 4 June, we published an interim update in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, which is available at the following link:

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

The MSF will support the shift to the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care, based on the integrated needs assessment completed by the integrated care board. This supports the effective and equitable use of resources of services commissioned and contracted at a local level to meet identified population needs now and in the future.

The Government is developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care, which remains on track for publication in Autumn 2026. On 4 June, we published an interim update in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, which is available at the following link:

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

The MSF will be a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in outcomes and experiences for patients and carers, and to reduce unwarranted variation in access, experience, and outcomes.

It would not be appropriate to pre-empt the final contents of the MSF. However, our goal is that every person who needs palliative care or care at the end of life receives high-quality, personalised support, shaped by what matters to them, their families, and carers. This includes promoting earlier identification of need, better coordinated care, and improved communication with patients and those important to them.

Patients attending an emergency department are assessed on arrival by an appropriately trained clinician or healthcare professional using established clinical triage processes. Triage is intended to identify patients who require the most urgent assessment and treatment, with priority determined by clinical need and the severity of the patient's condition rather than by any single diagnosis or patient group.

Where patients have recognised palliative or end-of-life care needs, clinicians will take account of the patient's presenting condition, any relevant advance care plans or documented care preferences, and exercise clinical judgement when determining the most appropriate course of treatment or onward care.

There is no national urgent and emergency care policy that provides a separate triage category or automatic prioritisation process solely on the basis that a patient is identified as having palliative care or end-of-life care needs.

The Single Patient Record will support our wider integration work providing a single trusted source of patient information, including care plans, that will be available to providers of health and care enabling them to offer more seamless co-ordinated care across the range of health and care services. Our ambition is that, from 2028, patients in England will be able to view their Single Patient Record via the NHS App, starting with maternity and frailty.

We are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-life care. The MSF will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation. The MSF will provide the framework against which palliative care and end-of-life care will be improved across all settings, including hospital and community.

The MSF will build on the ambitions set out in the Neighbourhood Health Framework to improve the identification of people approaching the end of life by 10% and reduce non elective admissions and hospital bed days for people at the end of life by 10% by March 2029. We recognise that care can be planned more proactively, and unwanted emergency admissions avoided, through good palliative care in the community.

I thank my hon. Friend for that question and all the campaigning she does on this issue. Our modern service framework will transform palliative care by basing it on strategic commissioning. That will enable us to tackle rising demand, identify patients much earlier, and ensure that quality of care no longer depends on someone’s postcode. I would of course be happy to meet her and Baroness Finlay to discuss that further.

Research shows that specialist palliative care can deliver palliative care in the community, saving the NHS 1.5 million bed days, as well as £817 million. It is important that funding accompanies the modern service framework, so that we have an invest-to-save model moving forward. Will the Minister meet me and Baroness Finlay, to consider the work we have been doing in this area, and see what more the Government can do to enable that?

We recognise the challenging financial situation facing many hospices due to a range of cost pressures, and we understand that some children and young people’s hospices are having to make difficult decisions about services.

However, to support the sector, the Government has provided a £125 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England and has secured approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over the three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29, helping to provide greater financial certainty and stability.

Since the beginning of this year, NHS England has written twice to all integrated care boards (ICBs) requesting an update on the financial stability of hospices within their footprint and the steps being taken to mitigate risks as a matter of urgency. As part of the most recent request, in April, information was also gathered from Hospice UK to provide a rounded picture of the hospice sector. It is clear from all the returns received that there is a clear commitment from ICBs to work collaboratively with hospices and to understand any existing or potential impact of financial pressures, with clear steps being taken at a local level to mitigate risks to patients.

We recognise that there are currently inequalities in access to, and the quality of, palliative care and end-of-life care. This is one of the reasons why we are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care.

On 4 June, we published an interim update on the MSF in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, which is available at the following link:

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

The MSF will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including for children and young people with palliative care needs, by reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation.

The MSF will focus on reducing unwarranted variation in access, experience, and outcomes, ensuring that everyone can receive high‑quality, personalised care in the right place at the end of life. The MSF will address inequalities in access to palliative care and end-of-life care by embedding a stronger focus on identifying, measuring, and reducing health inequalities across the system.

It will support a shift towards strategic, population‑based commissioning, enabling integrated care boards to plan and deliver services based on a clear understanding of local need, including underserved and disadvantaged groups.

The MSF will also strengthen the use of data and evidence, including metrics that are under development, to help systems identify gaps in provision, track progress, and ensure funding and services are distributed more equitably.

Earlier this year, NHS England wrote to all integrated care boards (ICBs) requesting an update on the financial stability of hospices in their footprint and the steps being taken to mitigate risks, as a matter of urgency. We have now repeated this exercise, also triangulating data received from independent hospices via Hospice UK. This has provided ministers and NHS England with a clear up-to-date national picture of any hospices at risk of closure or significant service reductions, and the potential impact on patients, families, and the wider health care system. NHS England will continue to support ICBs where risks are identified.

We are providing approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29, giving them the stability they need to plan ahead.

We are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for palliative care and end-of-life care and recently published an interim update on the MSF in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, accompanied by a letter containing further information for interested parties. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS88, which I gave to the House on 4 June 2026.

The Government recognises that people living with dementia can have significant palliative care and end-of-life care needs. We are working closely with a range of stakeholders, including Dementia UK, on the development of a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. We recently published an interim update on the MSF, which is available at the following link:

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

The MSF is a clinically-led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in outcomes for patients and carers, including for those living with dementia, by systematically identifying, measuring, and reducing health inequalities, and reducing unwarranted variation in access, experience, and outcomes.

This work is being closely aligned with the development of the MSF for Frailty and Dementia, to ensure a joined-up approach for people living with dementia.

The Ministry of Justice is taking forward the development of an Older Prisoners Strategy, in line with the recommendation of the recent Independent Sentencing Review. As part of this work the Department is engaging closely with NHS England, health and social care partners, third sector organisations, academics and scrutiny bodies. This includes engagement with providers, organisations and practitioners involved in end of life and palliative care, alongside consideration of frameworks such as the Dying Well in Custody Charter. This engagement is helping to inform how services can better meet the needs of older prisoners, including those approaching the end of their lives.

A decision on publication of the strategy will be taken in due course.

The Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care was never intended to introduce new, ring‑fenced funding. Its primary purpose is to set the strategic direction for improving palliative care and end-of-life care, including reducing variation in access, quality, and outcomes across the system.

In the context of wider fiscal pressures, the focus is on ensuring that existing resources are used as effectively as possible, supported by a shift towards more strategic, population‑based commissioning.

We are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. An interim update has now been published in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, accompanied by a Further Information for Interested Parties letter. The Written Ministerial Statement is available at the following link:

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

The MSF was never intended to introduce new, ring‑fenced funding. Its primary purpose is to set the strategic direction for improving palliative care and end-of-life care, including reducing variation in access, quality, and outcomes across the system.

In the context of wider fiscal pressures, the focus is on ensuring that existing resources are used as effectively as possible, supported by a shift towards more strategic, population‑based commissioning.

It is widely recognised that reducing hospital admissions, and instead supporting patients in the community, is both more cost-effective, and, importantly, in line most with people’s preferences at the end of life.

Recently published research from the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Policy Research Unit estimates that the total healthcare costs in the last year of life was, in 2024, approximately £24,000 per person in England. Acute hospital care alone accounted for nearly £19,000, representing nearly 80% of the total healthcare costs in the last year of life.

We recognise that there is currently a high number of hospital admissions and bed days of those in the last year of life, which creates added pressure on acute services and for most patients at the end of life, this would not be their preferred place of care or death. As set out in the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, we are determined to shift more care out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting.

We are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care for England. We recently published an interim update on the MSF in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement. This is available at the following link:

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

The MSF will build on the ambitions set out in the Neighbourhood Health Framework.

We are working closely with a range of stakeholders, including Dementia UK, on the development of the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. We recently published an interim update on the MSF, which is available at the following link:

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

The MSF will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including for those with dementia, by reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation.

We recognise that high-quality palliative care and end-of-life care should include the opportunity for individuals to discuss their wishes and preferences so that these can be taken fully into account in the provision of their future care, also known as advance care planning (ACP).

In order to facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP, NHS England has published Universal Principles for ACP, which are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/

Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance on dementia includes recommendations on ACP and involving people living with dementia in decisions about their care. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng97

Timely and equitable identification of palliative care and end-of-life care needs will be a key element of the MSF. NHS England and the Department are working closely with other teams who developing MSFs, including on Frailty and Dementia, alongside a wide range of stakeholders on the development of the MSF, looking at how we can enable more proactive assessment of palliative care need and subsequent access to services and personalised care and support, including ACP.

We are working closely with a range of stakeholders, including Dementia UK, on the development of the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. We recently published an interim update on the MSF, which is available at the following link:

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

The MSF will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including for those with dementia, by reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation.

We recognise that high-quality palliative care and end-of-life care should include the opportunity for individuals to discuss their wishes and preferences so that these can be taken fully into account in the provision of their future care, also known as advance care planning (ACP).

In order to facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP, NHS England has published Universal Principles for ACP, which are available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/

Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance on dementia includes recommendations on ACP and involving people living with dementia in decisions about their care. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng97

Timely and equitable identification of palliative care and end-of-life care needs will be a key element of the MSF. NHS England and the Department are working closely with other teams who developing MSFs, including on Frailty and Dementia, alongside a wide range of stakeholders on the development of the MSF, looking at how we can enable more proactive assessment of palliative care need and subsequent access to services and personalised care and support, including ACP.