NEWS
GOVERNMENT COMMIT TO RAISING CARE STANDARDS IN
END OF LIFE CARE Health Minister, Ben Gummer, has promised to end nationwide variations in care quality by 2020.
The government has published six main commitments aimed at improving care provisions, which they hope to achieve before the next general election.
These include conducting honest discussions between care professionals and the dying, dying people making informed choices, personalised care plans for all, and the discussion of those with care professionals.
The government has also committed to involving family and carers in dying people’s care and the appointment of a contact which dying people can refer to at any time of the day.
This announcement comes 17 months after the publication of the Review of Choice at the End of Life paper, commissioned by the government to further explore the quality of care across the UK and how it could be improved.
The commitments made by the government last month echo the
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report’s findings, which provide a ‘blueprint’ for how greater choice in end of life care can be achieved.
Health Minister Ben Gummer commented: “Our commitment is that every person nearing the end of their life should expect a good death: attentive, dignified and compassionate care.
“To do this, we will address poor care where it exists and accelerate improvement across the health and social care system in England. Already there are exemplary models of good care and we will ensure that where care is not so good we can learn from what is best and translate it to where it is needed most.”
The government have said they will support the NHS and care professionals to meet these new standards which will include improved training for clinicians, the creation of a national plan aimed at sharing best practice and new community care schemes introducing 24/7 specialist nursing services.
Claire Henry MBE, who chaired the independent board, said: “I’m pleased by the overall vision set out in the government response. They have clearly acknowledged our report, and taken its recommendations seriously.
“To implement the new national commitment for end of life care, we all need to work together to make this a reality, to ensure that a real
difference can be made to people nearing the end of life and their families. It will be vital that we continue to work with the government to ensure all these commitments are realised as part of all future care delivery. We know that numbers of people dying each year are starting to increase, and we’ll only get one chance to get it right for them.”
Marie Curie, a charity that provide support for terminally ill people and their families, has voiced concern that previous government policy in the care sector has promised improvements and failed to deliver.
Dr Collins, Chief Executive for Marie Curie commented: “A report by Sheffield Hallam University, funded by Marie Curie, highlights that despite the huge number of policy proposals to improve end of life care in England, there has been very little action in achieving high quality care and choice across the board for people affected by terminal illness.
“With new data showing that the estimated need for palliative care is increasing rapidly, the government must adequately fund, and accelerate the improvements needed to meet its commitment to deliver excellent end of life care for everyone, seven days a week by 2020. Without this, even more people will continue to miss out on the care and support they desperately need.”
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