4. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Reform of Hospice Funding

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:55 pm on 25 January 2022.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 3:55, 25 January 2022

(Translated)

Thank you very much, Rhun. You are right to say that there will be a second phase for the review, and I very much hope that that will take less than a year to complete. What will happen is that a small group will be brought together under the leadership of end-of-life care clinical lead, Dr Idris Baker, and that group will be developing and formulating what the remit for the second phase of the review will be. That will be overseen by a new end-of-life care programme, so that will be a sub-group of that programme. And that review will look at funding in the sector and will look at the differences in terms of the different models for hospices that have been found during the first phase of the review.

I'm too am concerned, Rhun, to some extent, about ensuring that people can have access to this help wherever they are, and certainly, this was something that I raised with the children's hospices when I spoke to them in terms of how they cover rural areas, for example, if they're far away from the centres where they're located. They have made it clear that they have already made provision in that regard, but they do know that they have some way to go on that too. So, I hope that we will see that progress, and, of course, that is something that I hope that they will look at in the next phase of the review.