The National Council for Palliative Care has called on the government to take action now to ensure that more people are able to die where they want to be and whilst receiving good quality care. A sharp rise is expected in the number of people dying every year, a rising proportion of whom will have lived and died with dementia. Too many people are still dying in hospitals, hospices or care homes when they have expressed a wish to spend their last days at home. The NCPC has created an election manifesto in which it spells out to the government what needs to be done to get palliative care services back on track and avoid a long-term crisis developing. The 5 key actions in the manifesto are:
- Make sure the existing End of Life Care Strategy is fully implemented over the coming years.
- Commit to making end of life care a political priority by establishing a Cabinet Committee.
- Implement an out of hours service so that dying people have access to specialist palliative care services and nursing around the clock.
- Train all health and social care staff in the principles and application of end of life care.
- Raise awareness of the Dying Matters coalition, which encourages people to express their wishes and priorities around palliative care.
NCPC chief executive Eve Richardson comments: ‘Bad end of life care should now be regarded as completely unacceptable, in the same way as any other failure of care. We believe that everyone has the right to access high-quality palliative care services and be able to exercise choice about their place of care at the end of their life. The momentum must continue.’
