Support for hospices

That this House recognises the important work that hospices do for local communities across the United Kingdom, in particular in providing comfort and support to patients and families in end-of-life care; further recognises the work of staff and volunteers, who provide an integral service; notes that there is a postcode lottery around hospice care, where the funding and standard of care is not equal across the country; further notes that 70% of hospices believe they would need to cut services due to rising cost pressures; acknowledges that there are great disparities between funding across the country; calls on the Government to make sustainable hospice funding a priority and provide better funding for hospices by establishing strong multi-year NHS contracts and the full funding of specialist palliative care; and praises the cross-party working that has taken place so far, but calls on all parties to progress these talks further as a priority of the Government.