Access to Palliative Care Bill (HL Bill 13)

1 Palliative care support

A clinical commissioning group, in exercising functions under section 3 of the
National Health Service Act 2006, must ensure that health and social care
providers provide appropriate support to people with palliative care needs,
5including but not limited to—

(a) access to pain and symptom control;

(b) support to meet their preferences in care;

(c) advance decisions to refuse treatment under section 24 of the Mental
Capacity Act 2005;

(d) 10information regarding their condition.

2 Duty to commission palliative care services

(1) A clinical commissioning group must make arrangements so as to ensure that
specialist palliative care services are available to people with palliative care
needs for whom the clinical commissioning group is responsible under section
153 of the National Health Service Act 2006 (duties of clinical commissioning
groups as to commissioning certain health services).

(2) The arrangements in subsection (1) must include the provision of—

(a) support to people with complex palliative care needs in their own
homes, in hospitals, in hospices, in care homes and elsewhere within
20the local community;

(b) direct admission of people with palliative care needs to hospice beds,
including on an urgent basis when reasonably required;

(c) support to other health and social care providers who are caring for
people with palliative care needs;

(d) specialist palliative care and hospice services which are available on
every day of the week;

(e) 5sufficient specialist professionals who are available to deliver services
to meet all reasonable requirements;

(f) sufficient equipment for any specialist professionals to enable the
delivery of services to meet all reasonable requirements;

(g) telephone advice from a healthcare professional who is qualified as a
10specialist in palliative care which is available at all times to
professionals providing care to people with palliative care needs;

(h) facilities to enable healthcare professionals to access essential
medication at all times for palliative care patients being cared for in
their own homes;

(i) 15a point of contact which is available at all times for people with
palliative care needs who are being cared for in their own home or
usual place of residence, and those important to them, in the event that
such persons are unable to access their usual sources of support; and

(j) appropriate systems to ensure that appropriate information about
20people who have palliative care needs can be made available with the
consent of the person to relevant health and social care providers and
to the ambulance services.

(3) Clinical commissioning groups must co-operate with all relevant
commissioners and health and social care providers so as to ensure that
25specialist palliative care services are delivered in an integrated manner.

3 Education and training

(1) Health Education England must require health and social care providers to
ensure that each employee working as a healthcare professional is trained in—

(a) the importance of pain control and that neglect of a person’s analgesic
30requirements can be a failure of a duty of care;

(b) communication skills to be able to offer discussion about a person’s
needs and preferences;

(c) the importance of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 with relation to people
with palliative care needs;

(d) 35ways to support families and carers (including children and vulnerable
adults) of people with palliative care needs, to involve them in
appropriate decision making and provide practical and emotional
support during bereavement.

(2) Any person who provides training to individuals who are working or are
40anticipated to work providing health or social care must have due regard to the
need to ensure that the importance of pain control and palliative care is
appropriately included in training for those individuals with a view to
ensuring that all such persons have the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes
and behaviours needed to care for people with palliative care needs.

(3) 45The duty under subsection (2) shall apply in particular to anyone engaged in
relevant training as part of any--

(a) university undergraduate curriculum;

(b) university postgraduate curriculum; and

(c) national vocational qualifications courses in health and social care.

(4) Persons providing training to which subsection (2) applies must ensure that
any assessments or examinations appropriately test that the recipient of such
training has attained adequate competence in that training.

4 Research

5The arrangements referred to in section 2(1) shall ensure that specialist
palliative care teams have the ability to participate in relevant research, to
advance innovations in palliative care and to ensure that employees are aware
of innovations in palliative care.

5 Care Quality Commission

10The Care Quality Commission must evaluate the provision of palliative care
when it carries out an inspection of a service provider.

6 Effect on other legal obligations

Except to the extent necessary to discharge the obligations set out in this Act,
nothing in this Act shall affect any obligation which is owed by a health and
15social care provider at common law or under any other statutory provision.

7 Definitions

In this Act—

• “employee” means an employee, agent, office-holder or a person who is
  contracted to provide health or social care services or that person’s
  20employee;

• “health and social care provider” means a person or organisation which
  provides health or social care services;

• “palliative care” means care which is delivered so as to seek to improve
  the quality of life of people and those important to them facing the
  25problems associated with life-limiting illness or at the end of life,
  through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early
  identification, assessment, treatment and management of pain and
  other problems whether physical, psychological, social or spiritual;

• “palliative medicine” is medical care provided by a doctor who has
  30undergone specialist training in palliative medicine and is licensed and
  registered to practise as a palliative care specialist by the General
  Medical Council;

• “specialist palliative care services” means care services provided by
  professionals who have undergone specialist training in palliative care
  35and who are members of a specialist palliative care team which
  includes specialists in palliative medicine, palliative nursing and allied
  health professionals.

8 Extent, commencement and citation

(1) This Act extends to England only.

(2) 40This Act comes into force on the day on which it is passed.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Access to Palliative Care Act 2015.