The Department and NHS England told us that data on patient-level activity from hospices, which ICBs need in their role as commissioners, is not strong or robust enough, because hospices are only obliged to report activity data when they are funded through a contract.21 Professor Murtagh described how activity across the hospice sector is not understood well enough, and Hospice UK referenced the NAO report that showed the variability in reporting and catching activity data.22 NHS England informed us of their Faster Data Flows programme, but noted that rollout to independent hospices has only recently begun.23