End of life care review called by the National Council for Palliative Care

A review on how Government departments and public bodies deal with death and bereavement has been requested by The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC).

The NCPC’s recent report titled, ‘Time for action: why end of life care needs to improve and what we need to do next’, sets out the case for strong national leadership from Government regarding end of life issues.

Chief executive of the National Council for Palliative Care, Claire Henry, said: “We need to change the nation’s approach to dying, so that people approaching the end of life and their families receive better care and improved support - and so that as a society we become able to deal with dying, death and bereavement.

"That is why we would like to see stronger leadership from Government, including a commitment to reviewing the ways in which government departments and public bodies could better meet the needs of people on end of life issues.”

The NCPC report finds that much has been achieved by the Government since the first national ‘End of Life Care Strategy’ in 2008. However, it argues that the scale and rate of change now needs to meet new demographic challenges and social trends.

The NCPC recommend following the example of the ‘Irish Taoiseach’, who recently announced the establishment of an independent review into the way in which Government departments and public bodies deal with end of life issues.

A review in England would not only focus on continued improvements to end of life care in the NHS, but also on issues regarding how the benefits system supports people who are terminally ill and the bereavement support available in the workplace, as well as improving public awareness of the ways in which people can plan ahead for their death.

This report follows on from a series of important reports published this year, including the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman, the Health Select Committee and the Review of Choice at the End of Life – which have highlighted inequalities in how dying people and their families are cared for and supported.