Question reference: S6W-26739
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 8 April 2024
-
Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that inflationary costs for hospices and recent Agenda for Change pay awards have resulted in current funding levels being insufficient for hospices to operate sustainably.
Answer
The Scottish Government fully understands the pressures that hospices are currently facing. The Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health engages regularly with this sector, and has visited a number of hospices and met with hospice leaders over the last few months.
Integration Joint Boards are responsible for the planning, and commissioning of adult palliative care services, including hospices, using the integrated budget under their control. We have invested over £2 billion in the 2024-25 budget for social care and integration, delivering on our Programme for Government commitment to increase social care spending by 25% over this Parliament. Despite this significant investment the financial climate remains extremely challenging and we are working with partners to understand and address the challenges, within the context of a finite budget.