Adjacent Digital Politics Ltd - NHS Palliative Care

Adjacent Government UK

According to charity Sue Ryder, the majority of patients dying at home do not receive 24-hour support…

The NHS is failing to provide 24-hour support, with around 92 per cent of NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) without telephone help lines for patients at the end of their life.

Across England there are half a million carers for patients who are terminally ill. The health charity said there is an “obvious inequality” between help and advice for the start and end of life. Currently, 24-hour care is available seven-day-a-week for maternity issues.

A total of 180 CCGs responded to information requests about the amount of support offered at end-of-life. Of this number, only 8 per cent said their local area had palliative care coordination and a dedicated help line, which was accessible 24-hours a day.

Populus, on behalf of Sue Ryder, polled 2,048 UK adults. Around four out of five people said they supported the availability of 24-hour advice for those who are dying. Additionally, around the same proportion of people thought 24-hour emergency home visits should be available to ensure pain can be alleviated, as well as other symptoms.

In June, official guidelines were published by the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People. This specified that palliative care should include access to telephone support.

It stated: “Service providers and commissioners are expected to ensure provision for specialist palliative medical and nursing cover routinely 9am to 5pm seven days a week and a 24-hour telephone advice service.”

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also recommends that terminally ill patients and their carers should be offered information “in an accessible and sensitive way, in response to their needs and preferences.”

The National Clinical Director for End of Life Care at NHS England Bee Wee said: “Over the past year we have been working hard to make changes and move towards a palliative care service that gives everyone a choice about how and where they spend their final days.

“It is really important that dying people, and those close to them, have access to care, support and advice whenever they need it, so we support this as an important issue to address.”

Chief Executive of Sue Ryder, Heidi Travis, said: “People who are dying, their carers and their families should be able to access the care they want, when they want.

“Unfortunately many areas of the country simply don’t have the services in place to make this ambition a reality.”

However, despite the concerns raised, the UK was rated as one of the best countries in the world for end-of-life care by the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance. It ranked alongside Australia, Austria, Norway and the US.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Mozambique, and Pakistan were amongst the worst places for end-of-life care in the world. Additionally, a total of around 98 countries have no hospices or palliative care provisions in place at all.

Adjacent Digital Politics Ltd

More details visit here — https://adjacentgovernment.wordpress.com/2014/10/15/adjacent-digital-politics-ltd-www-adjacentgovernment-co-uk-nhs-palliative-care/