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Marie Curie responds to National Survey of the Bereaved

Comment published

Bereaved relatives across England have, for the first time, been surveyed to gauge the quality of care received at the end of their loved ones’ life.

The Department of Health commissioned the Office of National Statistics to measure key outcomes of end of life care in England, delivering on a commitment made in the 2008 End of Life Care Strategy. Top line results are listed in the notes to editors below. Full details can be found here.

Imelda Redmond CBE, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, at Marie Curie Cancer Care said:

“This is the first time bereaved relatives have been given a voice. Families have told us, in large numbers, that their loved ones do not always get the care they need or deserve at the end of life.

“Hospitals are letting people down at a crucial time and this poor care is leaving behind memories of loved ones being treated with little dignity and respect, and dying in pain. This is simply not good enough.

“Good quality care can be provided at the end of life. The care received in hospices and at home was highly regarded by relatives. We only have one opportunity to get end of life care right. There is no reason why we can’t provide a dignified and respectful death, regardless of setting, location or diagnosis. It is now time to learn from these findings and make improvements.

“We want assurance that the Department of Health will continue to monitor the views of bereaved carers, and patients who are towards the end of life. This should be undertaken on a rolling basis and at a scale that allows it to be used as a tool for Clinical Commissioning Groups to be held to account for the quality of end of life care they commission in the future.”

Marie Curie Cancer Care provides nursing care at home and in our nine hospices. We also fund palliative care research.

-ENDS-

Contact information

Marie Curie press office

Updated

Notes to editor

22,292 of the 48,776 (46%) recently bereaved relatives contacted responded to the postal survey, which found that:

  • Only 48% of respondents said that the person who died was always treated with dignity and respect by hospital nurses, and 57% for hospital doctors. Ratings were much higher for hospice nurses (81%) and doctors (87%).
  • Overall, 42.5% of respondents reported to have received ‘outstanding/excellent’ care but 10% received poor care
  • Relief of pain in the last three months of life was lowest at home (17% ‘completely all the time’) and highest in hospices (62% ‘completely all the time’). Only 36% of respondents said that pain was relieved ‘completely, all the time’ during the final hospital admission
  • Only 33% of respondents reported that hospital ‘definitely’ worked well with community services
  • Only 50% of respondents reported that they and their family got as much help and support from health and social services as they needed
  • While only 44% of people said where they wanted to die, 71% of those expressing a preference said they wanted to die at home, 7% in a hospice and 5% in a care home
  • The majority of people die from an illness lasting 6 months or more (56%
  • 4% of respondents had used Marie Curie services at home in the last three months of life
  • Only 29% of people who died in hospital were said by relatives to have had enough choice about where they died, compared to 53% for those who died in a care home, 70% of those who died in hospice, and 88% of those who died at home. Cancer patients and younger patients also more likely to be reported as having had enough choice.

Marie Curie Cancer Care’s experience in providing nursing care at home and in our nine hospices, as well as our palliative care research has shown us what good end of life care looks like, for people with all terminal illnesses.

Marie Curie’s annual survey in 2011 found:

  • 85% of patients and families felt they had been involved in decisions about care either always or most of the time
  • More than 90% rated the overall experience of care from the Marie Curie Nursing Service as very good or excellent
  • 86% of patient and families accessing the Marie Curie Nursing Service rated the relief of pain as very good or excellent.

Tags:

  • Research