Lords debates Access to Palliative Care Bill

This is a private member's bill. A private member's bill is a type of public bill (that affects the public). Private members' bills must go through the same set of procedures as other public bills.

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Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench), the bill's sponsor in the Lords and former chair of the Palliative Care Strategy Implementation Board for Wales, opened the debate on the bill.

Government whip Baroness Barran (Conservative), responded on behalf of the government.

Members discussed a range of issues highlighted by the bill, including:

• training for palliative care specialists
• palliative care for babies, children and for those with learning disabilities
• the responsibility of Clinical Commissioning Groups to identify, fund support and provide services to those with palliative care needs

Committee stage, the first chance for detailed line-by-line scrutiny, is yet to be scheduled.

Access to Palliative Care Bill summary

This bill will aim to:

• bestow a duty on Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) based in England to ensure that persons in their area have access to palliative care services
• require individual CCGs to prepare and publish a strategy about how they will meet this obligation

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