27 November 2025
Stephen Kinnock MP addressed the Hospice UK conference on Tuesday 25 November. We were pleased to see that he not only acknowledged the importance of hospices but also addressed the need for stability and certainty. This is vital to ensure we can continue responding to the evolving needs of our communities, which are increasing each year.
Mr Kinnock used his address to announce the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative and End of Life Care (PEoLC). The MSF, planned to be completed by the Spring of 2026, has five key ambitions focusing on identifying the best evidenced interventions, ensuring equity is at the heart of the commissioning approach, recognising there is stark variation in the PEoLC offer across the country. It will also highlight innovative practice, and ensure providers, like ourselves, are supported to develop and deliver these services.
We welcome the development of the MSF, and particularly plans to bring greater consistency to the provision of palliative and end-of-life care, ending the postcode lottery of services and ensuring funding is fair and equitable, across the country. Around 90% of people who die in the UK would benefit from palliative care and we play a key role in supporting those that need complex, specialised care from a multidisciplinary team. People should be able to choose hospice care as an option if they require this type of specialist, patient centred support.
Most of our work takes place in the community, which means we are best positioned to understand the needs of patients and help inform future developments for palliative care. Over the past year alone, our community palliative care teams have supported 3,000 patients, enabling people to stay in their own homes and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
The autumn budget announced higher taxes, placing additional pressure on the generous supporters who fund 78% of our running costs. It was very disappointing not to see any further short-term financial commitment to hospices, either in the budget or in Mr Kinnock’s address, whilst the MSF is being developed. Given the significant financial challenge that hospices are facing now, this leaves the sector incredibly vulnerable as we move through the coming winter months.
Mr Kinnock MP highlighted the support provided by the Government earlier this year for capital costs and the three-year commitment to children’s hospice care. Whilst we welcome these initiatives, this does not help us with the our ‘core’ costs, which have seen a rise of 22% since 2022. This means, like many, we will have to make difficult decisions in the coming months about our services, at a time when demand has never been higher.
We remain hopeful that the MSF will announce a different, more strategic approach to funding that supports hospices in the long term, to work towards sustainable models of care and we are committed to working with our partners to ensure it is fit for purpose and addresses the significant challenges facing the sector.
Listen to the whole speech from the Hospice UK conference.