The Independent Expert Panel's (IEP) report on England's palliative and end-of-life care services was commissioned by the Health and Social Care Committee. 

The report found palliative care was often not prioritised in local areas and faced insufficient funding from ICBs, which themselves face persistent funding pressures. 

It found a ‘complex and fragmented' system that was difficult to navigate and lacked a single point of access and communication. 

Bereavement services were found to be valuable but frequently inaccessible due to patchy levels of provision across the country and a high dependence on voluntary organisations.

Progress on shifting care to the community was being hindered by current funding approaches with hospitals accounting for 81% of spending on care for people in the last year of their life compared with just 11% accounted for by community health care. This is despite just over one quarter of patients dying at home. 

The NHS workforce was found to be ill-equipped to meet the needs of people at the end of life because of insufficient provision of education and training. 

There were also shortages of staff amongst the specialist palliative workforce and district nurses.

Children and young people's palliative and end-of-life services and social care services, also faced serious shortages of trained professionals. 

The IEP received evidence of systemic inequality throughout the country, both in terms of the quality of services available in different parts of the country, but also inequalities experienced by underserved or marginalised communities. 

The report was produced before the Government announced on 24 November that it intended to develop a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England, with a planned publication date of spring 2026. 

A National Audit Office report in October found the DHSC and NHSE did not understand the value of hospices.