The ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº has published a new policy position on end-of-life and palliative care.
The ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº statement argues for a cultural shift – both within healthcare and wider society – towards more open conversations, earlier planning and better integrated care for people with progressive life-limiting conditions.
70% of people die from conditions with predictable trajectories. Yet many patients approaching the end of their life are cared for in emergency departments or hospital corridors – settings ill-suited to sensitive, dignified care.
The ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº is calling on government to:
- launch a public awareness campaign about end-of-life and palliative care
- fund professional education and improvement to support better end-of-life care planning and delivery
- commission a national strategy, including a service framework, common dataset and aligned workforce planning.
The new statement recognises the vital role of generalist physicians in delivering end-of-life care, supported by specialist palliative services that are currently overstretched and unevenly available. It argues for better information sharing, aligned funding and multidisciplinary training across both health and social care.