During this week’s health questions, Milton Keynes South MP Iain Stewart pictured praised the hospice’s work and asked the government to give assurance that the Department for Health will do all they can to maximise funding to hospices.
He said, “Hospices up and down the country, such as Willen Hospice in Milton Keynes, do a marvellous job in caring for terminally ill patients and their families yet they have an annual struggle to raise money from local communities to support their work.
“Will he assure me that he will do all he can to maximise the direct funding that hospices receive from the NHS?”
In response Alistair Burt, the Minister for Community and Social Care and MP for North East Bedfordshire, said: “We are all indebted to hospices for the invaluable work they do. I am sure that he and the House will be interested to hear that, from April, there will be pilot projects working on a new funding formula for palliative care, with the aim of providing a fair and transparent process and improvements.”
A report on the projects would be given to the House, he added.
Following the debate, Mr Stewart said: “I hope the report that comes to the house provides a constructive way forward and is welcomed by hospices up and down the country.”
