HC Deb 07 March 1978 vol 945 cc592-3W
Mr. Ashley

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what plans exist to increase the numbers of hospices for terminally ill patients;

(2) what communication there is between hospices for the terminally ill inside and outside the National Health Service;

(3) how many hospices for terminally ill patients there are in Great Britain;

(4) how many doctors, nurses and other staff work in hospices for the terminally ill;

(5) how many hospices for the terminally ill are part of the National Health Service;

(6) if he will list in the Official Report the geographical distribution of hospices for the terminally ill.

Mr. Moyle

There are about 40 hospices in Great Britain with about 20 more at various stages of planning and development. Information about staffing is not collected centrally. Only a few hospices are within the National Health Service, although most of the others receive support from NHS sources through contractual arrangements with health authorities. In addition to the usual professional lines of communication such as publications and symposia, the St. Christopher's Hospice, the National Society for Cancer Relief and the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation aim to keep each other in touch with interested people, projects and developments. A Terminal Care Study Group has been formed to discuss matters of mutual concern on an inter-disciplinary basis.

Hospices are situated within the boundaries of the following counties of England and Wales and regions in Scotland: Avon (2); Cheshire; Devon; Dorset; East Sussex (2): Greater London (9); Hampshire (2); Merseyside (2); Northampton; Oxford; South Yorkshire; Staffordshire; Surrey; Tyne and Wear; West Midlands; West Yorkshire (3); West Sussex; South Glamorgan; Fife; Grampian; Lothian (2); Strathclyde (2); Tayside.