§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been spent on palliative care in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [141946]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonInformation about how much has been spent on palliative care in each of the last 10 years is not held centrally.
The Government recognised in the NHS Cancer Plan (2000) that national health service support for specialist palliative care services needed to increase. We pledged to increase NHS investment in specialist palliative care by £50 million per annum by 2004. Ministers also made available an additional £10 million from central budgets in 2002–03.
We have now set up a £50 million per annum central budget for specialist palliative care to ensure that our pledge in the NHS Cancer Plan is met. This extra £50 million over and above what is already being invested, is to help tackle inequalities in access to specialist palliative care and to enable the NHS to increase their contribution to the cost hospices incur in 893W providing agreed levels of services. All 34 cancer networks have submitted investment plans for the use of their allocation to the National Partnership Group (NPG) for palliative care (a joint NHS/voluntary sector group). The NPG has assessed the investment plans. Plans have been approved and allocations have been made to local cancer networks which will result in an additional 71 whole time equivalent consultants, an additional 162 whole time equivalent cancer nurse specialists and an extra 86 specialist palliative care in-patient beds. The £50 million represents a significant increase of nearly 40 per cent. in NHS funding for specialist palliative care over 2000 levels.