‘Pressures on services’ to hit end-of-life care
Charities’ warning of service pressure
UNDER-PRESSURE SERVICES could see end-of-life care dramatically affected in the most isolated communities, a leading charity has warned.
People living in coastal and remote rural areas may not be able to access high quality hospice services, according to Hospice UK. The charity’s director of policy and advocacy, Jonathan Ellis, warned reduced investment in public transport, digital connectivity and greater distances to travel to access health and related services all affect palliative care provision.
The Yorkshire Post reported on Saturday that the Marie Curie charity had claimed that the financial environment for hospices could cause a “very challenging” 18 to 24 months after the pandemic. The Government has committed £325m to ensure hospices could continue to run at capacity during the Covid-19 crisis.
END-OF-LIFE CARE in rural and coastal areas is at risk of being seriously undermined as underpressure services do not have resources to support isolated communities, a leading charity director has warned.
Senior officials at Hospice UK have identified that people living in remote areas may not be able to access high quality hospice services, either as an inpatient or at home. Most of the region’s hospices are based in towns and cities, although Herriot Homecare in North Yorkshire offers support to those living in the Dales, while Saint Catherine’s in Scarborough has community care for coastal patients.
Reduced investment in public transport, digital connectivity and greater distances to travel to access health and related services all affect palliative care provision, according to Hospice UK.
The charity’s director of policy and advocacy, Jonathan Ellis, said: “One of the issues we’re really interested in is the provision of support in rural and coastal communities who face some really unique challenges.
“It can make it really difficult to get to outpatient clinic and support clinics that otherwise they’d really benefit from. We know all the challenges around access to broadband, and those inequalities have been really highlighted.
“There’s also a challenge for the health and care system itself of staff being able to physically get out and about for support services with long distances required between patients.
“A lot of the inequalities we see in access to health services generally for people living in rural and remote communities are the same inequalities we see in access to palliative care services.”
Hospice UK said the next few months could mark a turning point for the future of palliative care as lessons are learned after the coronavirus crisis.
Mr Ellis added: “We’re very grateful for the support the Government has given, but the impact of Covid-19 is going to be prolonged. It will take a considerable amount of time for fundraising and charitable income to recover to levels that we had prior to the pandemic. The real challenge is in the next 12 to 24 months.”
Marie Curie, the end-of-life charity, said the last year has marked a “stress test” for palliative care, as more people chose to die in their own homes where they could see loved ones than move to a hospital or hospice where visits were restricted.
There was a 40 per cent increase in the number of people dying at home over the course of the past year, and deaths in hospices saw a slight dip.
The medical director of the charity, Dr Sarah Holmes, said: “The pandemic has just shone a light on dying – and it’s really clear to me that end-of-life care needs to be prioritised. It needs to be sustainably funded and seen as an essential part of the health and social care system.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said end of life care services play a “hugely important role” and pledged to support the sector.
It’s really clear to me that endof-life care needs to be prioritised. Dr Sarah Holmes, medical director of the charity Marie Curie.