Palliative and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework: Interim Update

In November 2025, I announced that the Government would develop a modern service framework for palliative care and end-of-life care in England. This MSF is one of the only six MSFs announced, which clearly demonstrates that palliative care and end-of-life care is a top priority for this Government. The MSF will help address rising demand; late identification of need; inequitable variation in access, experience and outcomes; and the wider pressures facing the health and care system. Today I am providing an update on progress ahead of publication in autumn 2026.

The MSF is a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in outcomes for patients and carers, including by systematically identifying, measuring and reducing health inequalities, and reducing unwarranted variation in access, experience and outcomes. This Government’s goal, being developed with partners, is that every person who needs palliative care or care at the end of life will have equitable access to high-quality support, shaped by what matters to them, their families and carers. There will be a notable shift towards outcome measurement to understand improvement, including a specific focus on identifying and reducing inequalities in outcomes across different population groups. Systems are already beginning to implement these reforms, so that by March 2029 we will have delivered impact against the aim, set out in the neighbourhood health framework, of increasing by 10% the number of people identified as approaching end of life, and reducing non-elective admissions and hospital bed days for this cohort by 10%. Furthermore, as part of the 10-year health plan commitment to at least double the number of people offered a personal health budget by 2028-29, so that they can have more control over their care, we will start trialling PHBs for those with palliative care and end-of-life care needs by the end of 2026-27.

We are undertaking extensive engagement with more than 70 organisations across the health and care sector, including clinical experts, the voluntary sector, people with lived experience, and those representing babies, children and young people, adults and older people, and their carers.

A review of the evidence, and our engagement to gather real-world examples, has identified five working sub-goals for the system to drive change. With our stakeholders, we will build on these insights to develop areas for action for those commissioning and delivering services:

Support our staff and our population to better understand palliative care, death and dying.

Provide a person-centred approach and ensure equitable access to earlier and more effective identification of needs, in all settings of care.

Prevent distress through proactive and equitable assessment and management of need closer to home.