End of Life Care

Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about end of life care.

Every person nearing the end of life must feel safe in the knowledge that they will receive the best care and be supported to die in the place they choose. The palliative care workforce works extremely hard to provide good care. We owe a debt of gratitude to our hospices, care staff in hospitals and Macmillan and Marie Curie nurses. But more needs to be done to support staff to deliver the high-quality care people need and deserve.

I recognise your concerns about the provision of end of life care to people in their own homes and the significant increase in deaths within private homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension of many services during lockdown meant some people died without adequate pain management or personal care. A Hospice UK survey found that less than half of all people who died at home during the pandemic received good end of life care, while many people received no professional care at all.

I know that the UK COVID-19 Inquiry – which will examine the UK’s preparedness and response to the pandemic - includes a specific reference to “care in the home” and the investigation of excess deaths at home falls within the scope of the inquiry’s Terms of Reference.

Care at the end of life is a crucial part of our health and care system. Yet provision remains a ‘postcode lottery’ and too many people are not receiving the support they need. While COVID-19 has caused serious disruption to end of life care, I am concerned that going into this pandemic the Government weakened our NHS and care sector; twelve years of mismanagement in community care and a failure to bring forward a sustainable plan for social care resulted in people not being properly supported.

The NHS Long Term Plan includes welcome ambitions to improve end of life care and reduce avoidable emergency hospital admissions. However, without appropriate resources and a strategy to tackle workforce vacancies, I am concerned that these ambitions will not become a reality.

I urge Ministers to address the inequities and inequalities in end of life care and bring forward a long-term workforce plan to ensure everyone receives the care and support they need.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd MP