Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 15
73rd Report - Financial sustainability of adult hospices in England
Published 18 Mar 2026
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Financial sustainability of adult hospices in England All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
ICBs currently fund hospices largely through grants and block contracts, which do not provide clarity over what is being purchased.28 The Department and NHS England acknowledged that there must be a move away from funding hospices in this way towards a strategic commissioning approach. However, they emphasised that transitioning to activity or outcome-based commissioning is a complicated process that would require a period to build the systems and mechanisms to ensure long-term sustainability and avoidance of the current position in the future.29
From: Public Accounts Committee, 73rd Report - Financial sustainability of adult hospices in England (HC 1236), 18 March 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 1 June 2026 (deadline 18 May 2026).