§ Tony WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many beds in hospices are available to the national health service; and what the figures were for each of the last 10 years; [1057]
(2) what level of financial support is given per bed to hospices; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the national health service per bed of providing the same level of service itself; [1058]
(3) what proportion of the costs of running hospices is met by (a) grants from the national health service and (b) charitable giving; and what the figures were in each of the past 10 years;[1059]
(4) what guidelines he gives to NHS funding bodies about the level of support that should be given to hospices; [1060]
(5) what plans he has to review policy on the relationship between the NHS and the hospice movement. [1061]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 2 July 2001]: The total number of beds separated into national health service specialist palliative care units and voluntary hospices for each of the past 10 years for the United Kingdom is shown in the table. All hospice beds are available to NHS patients.
665W
Date NHS units Beds Voluntary hospices Beds Total units Beds January 1991 41 525 110 2,037 151 2,562 January 1992 43 522 127 2,236 170 2,758 January 1993 50 573 134 2,286 184 2,859 January 1994 50 573 143 2,399 193 2,972 January 1995 46 533 149 2,485 195 3,018 January 1996 50 557 150 2,468 200 3,025 January 1997 56 595 147 2,458 203 3,053 January 1998 59 605 146 2,474 205 3,079 January 1999 61 622 145 2,445 206 3,067 January 2000 56 600 146 2,469 202 3,069 January 20W 57 607 152 2,480 209 3,087 Source:
Hospice Information Service
In addition, the NHS collects information on the number of beds also provided by NHS trusts in wards classified as being for patients who are terminally ill or in need of palliative care in the annual publication 'Bed availability and occupancy—England', copies of which are available in the Library.
It is for the NHS locally to make arrangements for financial support for hospices, given the extent of local diversity both of the services provided and of alternative sources of local support. Accordingly we have issued no guidance specifying a set percentage of revenue costs that individual health authorities and primary care organisations should meet. Successive guidance to health authorities has made clear their responsibilities for developing palliative care strategies based on the assessed health needs of the resident population.
The National Council for Hospices and Specialist Palliative Care Services has estimated that total expenditure on hospice and specialist palliative care for adults is £300 million. Of this, £170 million is provided by the voluntary sector and £130 million through the NHS. Information on the NHS contribution to hospices over the past 10 years is not available.
The NHS cancer plan set out our commitment to increase NHS investment in specialist palliative care by £50 million by 2004. This will mean that for the first time ever NHS investment in specialist palliative care services will match that of the voluntary sector. Health authority allocations in 2001–02 included a total of £255 million to support the first year of local implementation of the NHS cancer plan. Priorities for this year include the development of costed strategic plans for palliative care.
Cancer networks are currently developing detailed service delivery plans, which will identify current position and set out action plans for further development across all services including palliative care. These will be completed by the autumn.