To achieve this, a broad focus across the spectrum of health and social care and third sector provision is required to make this happen as a whole-system effort. The vision is set out in our quality statement for palliative and end-of-life care, published in October 2022. It sets out the high-level Welsh Government policy intention for children and young people and adult palliative and end-of-life care. Implementation of the quality statement is being overseen by the national programme board for palliative and end-of-life care, and a work programme for 2023-24 is currently being finalised. The integrated work programme has a number of cross-cutting themes embedded throughout each work stream, including Welsh language, equality, diversity and lived experience. Workforce planning is a key issue within the work streams and this, alongside the local level discussion, will be instrumental in implementing the actions within the quality statement.

We welcome the cross-party group on hospice and palliative care’s inquiry into experiences of palliative and end-of-life care in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The inquiry supports our aim of providing high-quality and person-centred palliative care, which we will drive forward in collaboration with the national programme board for palliative and end-of-life care. The Minister for Health and Social Services has responded separately to the chair of the CPG, setting out responses to each of the report's recommendations.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented incredibly difficult challenges for delivering palliative and end-of-life care, and I commend all of those who went above and beyond in supporting patients and their families. It was a time of extreme pressure, and we will continue to consult with families and professionals to improve the experience of palliative care, should there be a need to tighten restrictions in the future. We have made significant investments in bereavement services during and since the pandemic, and have driven a number of activities to improve bereavement care. This includes the publication of our national bereavement framework in October 2021, and the launch of a specific bereavement pathway to support people affected by the sudden or traumatic death of a young person up to and including 25 years of age last August. In addition, we are providing a £3 million bereavement support grant to 21 third sector organisations over the three-year period 2021 to 2024. We also recognise that the number of people who need palliative and end-of-life care is increasing, and the pandemic highlighted the more pressing need to address out-of-hours and community palliative and end-of-life care provision. To help address this, the Welsh Government provided over £13 million of emergency funding throughout the pandemic.

Delivering on phase 1 of our programme for government commitment to review voluntary hospice funding, we've also provided an additional £2.2 million annually for Welsh hospices delivering core palliative and end-of-life care services since April 2023. The second phase of this review includes recommendations to increase the capacity of district nursing out of hours and community clinical nurse specialists at weekends and bank holidays. This will improve core care in the last days and weeks of life, and strengthen the support to people who wish to remain in their own homes. This fits with our wider work to build integrated community care services focused on our frail population, and seeks to strengthen community capacity. The Minister for Health and Social Services has asked that the report and these recommendations are considered as part of this work.

In addition, to understand the need for paediatric palliative care, we have supported children's hospices in Wales to commission a prevalence study to provide up-to-date information of paediatric palliative care needs in Wales. We must also understand the impact that the ageing population has on end-of-life care, both in the medium and longer term. This will be part of the final phase of the funding review, which will also look at what further support hospices need.

It is vital we put into practice the learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, and officials are working with the pandemic preparedness team to ensure that palliative and end-of-life care are a key component of our work to plan for future pandemics. In conclusion, I'd like to thank the Welsh Conservatives for raising this important subject and provide reassurance that the Welsh Government remains fully committed to the provision of high-quality palliative and end-of-life care across Wales. Diolch, Llywydd.