Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Deferred
Paragraph: 38
Current law on assisted dying and suicide perceived as unclear by some.
Conclusion
A view put forward by some who have provided evidence to us was that the current state of the law is unclear.
Government Response Summary
The government's response details funding for hospices, including £25 million for children's hospices in 2024/25, and discusses disparities in hospice access, completely sidestepping the recommendation regarding the clarity of the law on Assisted Dying/Assisted Suicide.
Paragraph Reference:
38
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices are autonomous organisations that provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide. Consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this. Due to the way the hospice movement organically grew, hospice locations were largely not planned with geographic or demographic purposes as a driving force. Therefore, there are disparities with access to hospice services, especially for those living in rural or socio-economically deprived areas. However, the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by NHS staff and services, commissioned to meet the needs of their local population. At a national level, as part of the NHS COVID response, c. £356 million was provided to hospices to secure and increase additional NHS capacity, enable hospital discharge and ensure they can continue delivering quality care to those who need it. In addition, from December 2021 to March 2022, NHS England made grant funding available to purchase the establishment of 24/7 and Single Point of Contact specialist palliative care support and advice services. This was done at pace with 73 successful bids and totalling over £4 million of funding. At a national level, NHS England has supported palliative and end-of-life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant, providing approximately £15 million in 2020/21, £17 million in 2021/22, £21 million in 2022/23, and rising to £25 million in 2023/24. Furthermore, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, up to £2 million in 2020/21, up to £3 million in 2021/22 and up to £5 million in 2022/23 of matched funding has been made available to commissioners who increase their overall level of investment in local children’s palliative and end of life care services, rising to up to £7 million in 2023/24. Last year, NHS England confirmed that it will be renewing the funding for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence- based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. This prevalence- based approach ensures funding matches local need. Funding will be distributed via ICBs in line with NHS devolution.