Hospice UK responds to Health and Social Care Committee report into workforce

Katie Reade, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer said: "We welcome today’s reports from the Health and Social Care Committee and are pleased to see it has recognised some of the key issues we raised in our submission.

"We know hospices are struggling to attract and retain staff and that this is affecting services significantly, so we welcome the report’s focus on long-term planning to sustain workforce numbers. We also know that there will be a substantial mental health impact on staff who witnessed large numbers of excess deaths during the pandemic, and we’re glad the report has recognised that access to mental health services needs to be improved.

"However, the need for palliative and end of life care will only increase in the coming years and the commitments made in this report will need to go further to help hospices and palliative care providers prepare for this. As the report’s commitments are taken forward it is vital that hospices are at the table of these discussions, and not forgotten."