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FROM WORLD HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE DAY |
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New report makes urgent call for fair access to end of life care for everyone Urgent government action is needed to ensure that all sections of society have equal and adequate access to the care they need when coping with terminal illness, according to a major new report by the charity Help the Hospices. The report, Hospice and Palliative Care, Access for All, will be launched to coincide with World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on October 7th. The theme of the day this year is Access to Care for All, highlighting the fact that millions of people who desperately need specialist care at the end of life aren’t getting it. The report reveals that due to a number of factors, including problems with referral processes and funding provision, many groups fail to access adequate hospice and palliative care services, including the homeless, travellers, people with learning disabilities and people living in institutions, the elderly and minority ethnic groups among others. The Access for All report also highlights geographical inequalities in provision of hospice services, for example people in remote rural areas often have difficulty accessing hospice services. As well as highlighting the problems of patchy provision of palliative care, the report highlights successful projects run by many hospices which are trying to redress the balance, although with limited resources. For example, Highland Hospice which delivers palliative care to a region of Scotland which covers almost one-fifth of the UK landmass, offers several services which are aimed at overcoming geographical isolation. Hospice consultants travel to outlying areas monthly, visiting community hospitals and patients in their own homes. They also run monthly internet conferences with primary care teams and the hospice offers a 24-hour, seven day a week telephone support service. Barriers to access include: - Some healthcare professionals may not know about hospice services or may be reluctant to refer people to them. - Social exclusion of groups such as the homeless, travellers and prisoners. For example, 83 per cent of prisoners over 60 years old have a longstanding illness or disability and the number of older prisoners is growing every year. - A diagnosis of a disease other than cancer may limit access to palliative care. There is concern about staff having the necessary expertise and about the capacity of current, already stretched, hospice services to provide for people with a range of illnesses and conditions. As well as more financial help from the Government for core services, Help the Hospices is calling for money to promote the role of hospices as educational resource centres for the wider healthcare system. It also wants healthcare providers and networks to put effective palliative care referral systems in place and to prioritise co-ordination of care. Improved and expanded study of palliative care should also be included in the training of healthcare professionals. Hospices themselves are urged to offer information on the full range of services available to marginalised and minority communities. David Praill, Chief Executive of Help the Hospices, said: “We are committed to promoting equality of access to hospice care, which is why we’ve produced this report. It’s the aim of all independent hospices that no-one should be discriminated against, directly or indirectly, and hospices are working to remove existing barriers to access, to develop services that are appropriate to all and to extend the spread of high quality palliative care through education and training. But they can’t do this in isolation. Issues surrounding access to care need to be looked at as part of a national strategy for end of life care.” The report’s findings were backed by other voluntary sector providers of hospice and palliative care in the UK. Stephen Collinson, Director of Healthcare at Sue Ryder Care commented, “We are not surprised by this report’s findings. Voluntary providers of specialist care like ourselves are very keen to extend their services to everyone that needs them and continue to provide a bedrock of expertise from which the whole community benefits. “We are dedicated to developing new and innovative services, such as addressing the end of life care needs of people who live with neurological conditions. However our ability to develop these services in partnership with the state is seriously hampered by the fact that some statutory commissioners of care simply do not pay the true cost of the services they commission. This issue needs to be addressed to end the postcode lottery and form a sound infrastructure for the future.” The first ever World Hospice and Palliative Care Day took place in October 2005 with more than 1,100 events taking place in 74 countries. It was launched by HRH Princess Anne in London, and supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who described it as “an important global event”. This year, messages of support have been received by Bono, Elton John and Archbishop Tutu. To find out more and get involved in World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2006, visit www.worldday.org, or email Full copies of the report, Access for All, are available from Help the Hospices on 020 7520 8250 or or can be downloaded from www.worldday.org For media enquiries, contact Jo Pratt, Help the Hospices, tel: 020 8699 6566 / 07734 566079 / or Helen Riley, tel: 020 8348 3103 / 07931 300 425 or Katie Brewin, Help the Hospices, tel: 0161 881 7753 / Notes to editors There are currently around 8,000 hospice and palliative care services in 110 countries. The first modern hospice – which inspired the global hospice movement - was St Christopher’s in London, founded in 1967 by Dame Cicely Saunders, who died on 14th July 2005, at St Christopher’s.
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day has been developed by the following partner organisations:
The secretariat for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is provided by Help the Hospices, the UK charity for the hospice movement, which supports over 220 local hospices in their vital work on the front line of caring for people who face the end of life. Hospices provide a wide range of care, from in-patient beds to day care or care for people in their own homes. |
