The crisis in the NHS and social care is, in many ways, an end of life care crisis – and it can be fixed.

Last week, Marie Curie hosted the National Summit on Palliative Care and End of Life Care. Healthcare leaders, hospice care providers and commissioners from across England came together to talk honestly about the stark gaps in the end of life care system and what it will take to fix them.

The UK Government’s forthcoming framework focuses on early identification, care closer to home in the community and strengthening out of hours support.

These are all areas where, if we work together, we can make a huge difference to peoples’ end of life experiences.

Marie Curie is also calling on the government to ensure access to essential medication out of hours, as well as a workforce with the skills, confidence and training to provide compassionate, expert care, through this framework.

Across the UK, we’re already making positive strides as we evolve and grow our services, build new community connections and strengthen delivery of palliative care and end of life care.

In Plymouth, we’re working in partnership with University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) to give people more choice around where they receive care and where they die, by reaching them, where and when they need help. With palliative expertise embedded into the emergency department at Derriford hospital, in local GP practices and dedicated community beds at Mouth Gould Hospital, we can reach people earlier, help them plan the care they need, and avoid the need for distressing and costly crisis care.

In Bradford, our REACT service helps people at the end of life avoid getting rushed into hospital emergency departments when they don’t want or need to be there, by working with the hospital to provide a specialist palliative care assessment. Where possible, patients are discharged back home with support, with onward support from their GP and community nursing teams if needed.

We have more projects in development across the country which will mean closer partnership working and putting the patient at the very centre of how we think about supporting them at the end of life.

I’m proud of the work we’ve done so far, and excited about the difference it’s already making to people living with terminal illness. But there’s a long way to go and it will take all of us working in the health and social care system to close the gap in end of life care for good.

Despite recent political change across the UK, not least new governments in Wales and Scotland, and a new Secretary for Health and Social Care, Marie Curie’s message remains the same. Too many people are dying without the end of life care they urgently need, but together we can lead the change that palliative and end of life care so desperately needs.

This crisis is real, and too many people are suffering. Recent Marie Curie research shows that almost one in three people are dying without the end of life care they need a hugely worrying number.

One of these people was Clare’s mum, Pat. Despite her very best efforts, Clare was unable to get pain relief prescribed for Pat, as she suffered during the last night of her life. Clare’s lasting trauma at being unable to help her loved one at crisis point is something no one should have to experience.