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Background Following an amendment to the Health and Care Bill 2021, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are now explicitly responsible for commissioning specialist palliative care services. To support these efforts, NHS England published the ‘Commissioning and Investment Framework’ and a handbook for palliative and end of life care in 2022 for ICBs, plus guidance on sustainable funding models for palliative care services. Despite these initiatives, there isn’t a national tariff or standardised approach to costing specialist palliative care services. Hospice grants and contracts can lack activity requirements, leading to underfunding.Aim In the absence of a national tariff for specialist palliative care, our aim was to establish a funding model based on activity with our NHS commissioners to address the funding gap effectively.Method The team reviewed national commissioning frameworks, local contracts/grants, and:Identified all services to be included in the costing work, including specialist and core services defined using commissioning classifications.Gathered activity data and financial information, including costs and current funding. Utilised local commissioning reports to inform future service planning.Categorised costs, considered both direct and indirect costs.Engaged and involved others to ensure a range of perspectives, and to validate data and assumptions we engaged commissioners from the beginning.Developed and used an activity-based model to cost the services.Compared our costing model with two other similar services.Prepared a comprehensive proposal outlining risks, benefits, quality and sustainability to meet increasing service demand.Results We defined the cost of services and established a set of costs applicable to the services we deliver. Presented and discussed results with our commissioners and are being used to inform future contract values.Conclusions In the absence of a national tariff, this costing exercise has positioned us well to negotiate NHS contracts in the future.