The Association for Palliative Medicine (APM) has called on the British Government to prioritise improving the struggling palliative care system, following the recent parliamentary backing of changing the law to allow assisted dying. There are concerns that funding needed to pay for doctors and related court services to oversee assisted dying could divert money from care for dying individuals. APM is therefore urging the Government to create a commission to improve the UK’s end-of-life care, due to existing shortages of funding and poor coordination being cited as current barriers for those people who require end-of-life care.
On Friday, MPs backed changing the law in England and Wales to allow assisted dying, marking the first parliamentary hurdle that the bill has to pass. However, it is possible that the bill could fall and may not become law at all. Speaking to the BBC, Dr Sarah Cox, president of APM, commented that Health Secretary Wes Streeting had previously said that part of his reason for rejecting assisted dying was that the palliative care system in place wasn’t adequate. Dr Cox urged him to fix this issue now, as APM warns that there remains a risk of funding being lost if the system is not improved.
Recent data has outlined an increase in palliative care funding, with end-of-life care being particularly crucial concerning the needs of the UK’s ageing population. At least three-quarters of people require care at the end of their lives, with around 450,000 people per year across the UK. Palliative care aims to make individuals as comfortable as possible by managing pain and other distressing symptoms, providing support for those with incurable illnesses. Despite commendations of being the best in the world, the UK’s palliative system no longer appears to have this title. Audits show that four in ten hospitals, which provide care for around 300,000 people per year, have no specialist palliative care services available seven days a week.
A number of MPs who recently supported the assisted dying bill claimed that its introduction would help improve palliative care. They cited the Health and Care Committee’s report, which found that in some countries, assisted dying was linked to an improvement in palliative care. However, senior doctors and Marie Curie charity have raised concerns that assisted dying could have an adverse impact on palliative care funding, placing even greater pressure on an already-stressed system. There is a real and high demand for coordination and training, with hospitals, care homes, hospices, and community NHS teams needing better coordination. The UK Government has been called upon to demonstrate improvements in palliative care for the UK’s dying individuals
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