Luke Taylor: "Hospices must be recognised as key partners, not afterthoughts."

Luke Taylor MP’s Hospices and Healthcare (Report on Funding) Bill calls for a full report to Parliament on whether crucial services like pharmacy, pathology, palliative consultant costs, clinical nurse specialist services and advance care planning should be included within the NHS funding framework, and asks Ministers to explore the option of committing to ringfencing funding for core and specialist services.

HospiceUK has shown that of the £1.3bn spent on hospice care each year, just £0.5bn comes from the NHS.

Luke Taylor says "“My bill is about putting that choice back in people’s hands. It is about ensuring that the end of life is met with compassion, dignity and care.

“The Hospice sector wants to continue to offer those touchstones of a dignified end of life - but they have been let down over and over again. 

“The truth is now not just that we need Hospice care, but that Hospices need our care too.

“Across the UK, hospices provide free care to over 310,000 people each year, supporting another 92,000 families and loved ones through the hardest times. 

“Their funding has failed to keep pace with inflation, and they are far too reliant on personal donations. 

“If we want to shift care from hospitals into the community then hospices must be recognised as key partners, not afterthoughts.”

The Bill is expected to have its second reading in Parliament in September.