Committee publication · Special Report · 19 February 2026 · HC 1722
4th Special Report - Evaluation of Palliative care in England: Government Response
From: Health and Social Care Committee
Inquiry: Palliative Care
Summary
This is the Government's formal response to the Health and Social Care Committee's November 2025 report on palliative care in England. The Government welcomes the Committee's evaluation and commits to developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan. It has allocated £125 million in capital funding and £80 million in revenue funding for hospices, and addresses the Committee's findings across five themes: commissioning, delivery, community shift, workforce, and inequalities.
Key findings
- Government partially accepts recommendation on commissioning, rejecting claim of absent frameworks but acknowledging unwarranted variation; developing a Modern Service Framework with NHS England dashboard and Strategic Commissioning Framework.
- Accepts delivery recommendations; acknowledges pressure on services and rising demand; commits to shifting care from hospitals to communities with integrated generalist and specialist teams and 24/7 telephone support.
- Accepts community-based care shift; emphasises Single Patient Record and NHS App to improve coordination; recognises hospice sector's role in neighbourhood health and community services.
- Partially accepts workforce recommendations; notes 910 FTE palliative medicine doctors (up 5.5% from 2024), 4,250 GP training places, and £12 million Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme; commits to spring 2026 workforce plan.
- Accepts inequalities findings; developing equality and diversity strategy within MSF; invested £3 million in Policy Research Unit on palliative care with focus on minority ethnic groups; dashboard filters by deprivation quintile and demographics.
Government position
The Government accepts or partially accepts the Committee's recommendations across all five focus areas. It rejects only the premise that commissioning frameworks are absent, while acknowledging unwarranted variation exists. The Government commits to implementing improvements through the Modern Service Framework, funding increases for hospices (£125m capital, £80m revenue), workforce expansion, and strategic commissioning reforms, with ICBs required to implement relevant recommendations throughout 2026/27 and 2027/28.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Health and Social Care Committee, Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), Care Quality Commission (CQC), Local Government Association (LGA), Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
Notable line
“Palliative care and end-of-life care is a fundamental component of a compassionate and effective health and social care system.”
Key Quotes
“The Government is committed to ensuring every person has access to high- quality palliative care and end-of-life care.”
“We recognise that there is unwarranted variation in access to palliative care and end-of-life care in England.”
“As of September 2025, there are over 910 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of Palliative Medicine in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England.”
“The MSF will address the drivers and incentives that are required in palliative care and end-of-life care to enable the shift from hospital to community …”
“We recognise that there are inequalities in access to palliative and end- of-life care services, especially for people living in rural and/or socio- economically deprived areas …”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗