Wales Health Minister demands NHS services take the lead on end-of-life care

The Welsh Government has made a firm commitment to improving end-of-life care services, setting 2016 as the target for eradicating service inequalities, regardless of whether individuals choose to die in hospital, in a care facility or at home.

The ‘Together for Health – Delivering End of Life Care’ plan was published last week and pledges to continue the work of the Palliative Care Implementation Board, which introduced educational initiatives into nursing homes. The new plan will focus on further strengthening services to support individuals entering a terminal phase of their illness.

Health Minister Lesley Griffiths comments: “Everybody is affected by the death of a family member or friend who has gone through a final phase of illness. I want, as far as possible, to reduce the amount of distress in the terminal phase of illness for the patient and their family.

“Not only do people need rapid assessment and the best possible treatment, but they also need ongoing support and information about choices when treatment may no longer be effective.

“I want patients to have access to information to help them make decisions about their care and treatment so they have an element of control at the end of their life.

“The NHS must be committed to taking the lead, working with its partners in Wales to deliver this at every single stage of the patient’s journey. All NHS organisations in Wales will be required to publish an annual report on end of life services to enable the public to track progress.”

The key objectives of the ‘Together for Health’ report are for patients with terminal illness are to be given access to quality care, regardless of their situation, and for families to be assisted, where possible, in advance for the care provision they will require.

A 12-week consultation will now take place for Local Health Boards to raise concerns over how these key actions can be achieved.

Image: Assembly Building; © Crown copyright (2012) Visit Wales