As part of my role as Shadow Minister for Health I was pleased to respond to yesterday's debate on Hospices.
I spoke about the important role that local hospices, such as Loros and Rainbows, play in making sure that people who will die do so with dignity.
I also raised concerns around the impact of the Budget on October 30th, particularly as the Government has confirmed that funding for hospices announced before Christmas - necessary because of increases announced in the Budget to employers National Insurance - is for capital expenditure only.
During my speech I asked the Minister; what is being done to ensure that people look to plan their deaths better, will the Government consider consulting on a long-term funding model, and will they commit to establishing agreed basic standard criteria for service-level provision, and to getting a national agreement on the provision of palliative care services?
