New framework must deliver fair access to end-of-life care, says expert

Fliss Murtagh. Professor of Palliative Care and Director of the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre, Hull York Medical School at the University of Hull, is an experienced practitioner and leading expert on end-of-life needs. Her advice has informed policy makers, MPs and Members of the House of Lords.

Plans to address gaps in services are expected to be published in the autumn. The Government’s Modern Service Framework – the first of its kind for palliative and end of life care - will give guidance on how services for those at the end of their lives should be commissioned and delivered. An interim statement on progress towards its Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End-of-Life Care has now been published.

Responding to the interim statement, Professor Murtagh said: “Almost one in three people in England die without the basic end-of-life care they need. Access to high quality palliative care varies widely across communities, too often arriving too late – or not at all.

“The government’s ambition to end that postcode lottery through its Modern Service Framework is welcome.

“As a society we should be judged on how we care for our most vulnerable; those at the very beginning of their lives and those nearing the end. A compassionate society attends to both with equal commitment and care.

“This framework will ultimately be judged on whether it delivers better integrated 24/7 community-based specialist care for all, and whether it invests in the skilled workforce and teams required to make that ambition a reality.”

Earlier this year Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee called on government to respond with greater seriousness and urgency to a growing financial crisis in care for those reaching the end of their lives.

Professor Murtagh was one of just three expert witnesses called to give evidence to the Committee’s enquiry into the financial sustainability of adult hospices in England.

Professor Murtagh’s research shows that around 170,000 people in England each year spend their final days in pain, distress, or without essential end-of-life support while demonstrating that well-managed specialist palliative care both improves quality of life and reduces pressure and costs on the NHS.