End-of-life care worse if you don’t have cancer

DYING patients do not get the best palliative care unless they have cancer, a study suggested.

Those with progressive and incurable diseases such as dementia, liver failure, Parkinson’s and strokes typically spend around half as much time receiving end-of-life care in hospices than patients with cancer.

Leeds University researchers analysed information about 42,000 deaths in 2015 and found patients with cancer were typically referred to hospices 53 days before their deaths, compared to 27 days for other terminal patients.

Other inequalities in end- of-life care included younger people receiving more treatment than older patients, and Southerners typically getting more care than Northerners. Researchers found older patients aged over 75 tended to receive less palliative care, spending an average of 39 days at a hospice compared to 78 days for under-50s.

And there is a North-South divide in end-of-life care, with patients in the South and Midlands spending an average of 55 days in hospices compared to 35 days for patients in the North.

Previous trials have shown patients with terminal illnesses benefit most when they spend three to six months in a hospice before their death.

Patients can usually be referred to hospices only by GPs, hospitals, community nurse specialists or social workers.

Co-author of the study, Dr Sarah Russell, of charity Hospice UK, said: ‘Despite increasing evidence about the benefits of early referrals for hospice care, our research shows that many people who could benefit from in-patient and community hospice care are not being referred early in their illness.’

‘Young receive more treatment’