Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2015 to Question 12730, what steps his Department is taking to improve palliative care for children in England.

Ben Gummer

NHS England has continued to provide £11 million to children’s palliative care providers through the annual Children’s Hospice and Hospice-at-Home Grant.

The Department has also provided grant funding to ‘Together for Short Lives’ to support the Transition Taskforce, which is developing improved approaches to providing care and support to young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.

NHS England has led work on behalf of the Government in developing draft currencies for palliative care (for all ages) which are now being tested with provider organisations. The aim is to put funding for children and adult hospices on a more equitable and sustainable footing, by clearly identifying the costs of care, so that it can be commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups.