Marie Curie response to Final Report by the Expert Advisory Panel on Adult Care and Support

In response to the Final Report by the Expert Advisory Panel on Adult Care and Support, Craig Harrison, Marie Curie Policy and Public Affairs Officer Northern Ireland, commented:

Whilst we welcome many of the ideas put forward in the Expert Advisory Panel’s report, we have concerns at the proposal to introduce charging arrangements to people being cared for at home. Domiciliary care services play an important role in facilitating care in the home setting, including palliative care for people with terminal illnesses. At Marie Curie we work closely with local health teams to ensure people receive the care they need in the setting of their choice. We do not want to be in a situation where we are unable to discharge someone from our hospice or for them to be unable to remain at home because they can’t afford a domiciliary care package. In October we highlighted the difficulties in discharging people from our hospice that arise from pressures in domiciliary care. We do not want any new charging arrangements to make this situation worse.    

We look forward to receiving further details on how these proposals would work in practice and will be engaging with the Department of Health throughout the consultation process so people with terminal illnesses are not negatively impacted.