Speeches by Kinnock.

“Thank you very much, Chair. If I could make a very brief statement, which has some new information that I think the Committee might find useful. I thank the Committee and its independent expert panel for their excellent report. Palliative and end-of-life care plays an essential part in our health and care system, and i…”

“Let me say two things. You raised a really important point about whether the money is going to the communities and parts of the country that need it the most. We are looking at the funding formula—the core allocation formula—for ICBs, to ensure that it is aligned with socioeconomic need. Another example of that is the …”

“Yes, absolutely. Hospices, on average, receive about 30% of their funding from the state—from the NHS. They are a really important partner for us, but they are a kind of hybrid model of some state funding and what they raise through charity. Therefore, we see them as an integral part of what we want to do on commission…”

“I think there are tools that are not being used properly.”

“We are definitely setting the system a challenge to work more effectively, but our view is that by doing strategic commissioning more effectively, getting a better understanding of the population’s health needs, creating a robust strategy and bringing all the key partners together—including the voluntary sector like ho…”

“I will be absolutely up front on this. We have a capital budget right across the Department of Health and Social Care. Where there are opportunities for spotting an underspend in a particular area of activity it is my job to go in, roll up my sleeves and fight like hell for my portfolio. A top priority for me in doing …”

“I have not yet done the modelling of what kind of workforce would be required to staff that telephone line, but it would be a single central number. One assumes that it would not have enormous staffing issues. Its round-the-clock nature would require some thought to make sure we staff it properly. There is no point in …”

“We accept that there is not good enough involvement, interface and integration with adult social care.”

“I would never put it in such undiplomatic terms.”

“The £100 million—”

“The workforce piece is complex because so many people are involved in palliative and end-of-life care, such as GPs, district nurses and specialist doctors.”

“One of the crucial issues is that the data on inequality of access is not very robust. The policy research unit within the NIHR is doing a deep dive on inequality and trying to give us a more robust dataset around geographic inequality, socioeconomic inequality and inequality along ethnic lines. The first answer to you…”

“It is a really good example of why we need those national, coherent and consistent standards, approaches and goals. That is precisely because, even if you are a children’s hospice and deal with two or even three different ICBs, you are going to be getting a very similar approach from each of those, rather than the very…”

“If we get the modern service framework published by the autumn, then we would be looking at implementation in 2027.”

“Yes. If you measure it on the basis of whether a person is on the register of palliative care, there are about 345,000 people on the register of palliative care. That is only about 50% of the total number of people in the last year of life, if we assume that, at any given time, there are about half a million people in …”

“Yes.”

“Yes, absolutely. I am very happy to do so.”

“Yes, I think it will have to be. It is clearly an area that needs more work.”

“I am looking at Sarah, but I am assuming that—”

“Hospice UK has done a report, and it is clear that having that 24/7 telephone line would be extremely beneficial. Coverage is not where it should be, so that is something we are going to be looking at in the modern service framework.”