Marie Curie Responds to NHS 10 Year Plan

Marie Curie Chief Executive, Matthew Reed, said:

"We are pleased to see that the UK Government has placed the needs of patients at the centre of their Plan to reform the NHS in England, making a clear commitment that will help fix the current crisis in palliative and end of life care for local communities, and setting out a clear roadmap for creating an NHS that is fit for the future.

"We look forward to working with them to ensure that the additional £29 billion NHS funding announced in the Spending Review transforms care in the community for people with a terminal illness.

"By working closely together, we can ensure that people dying at home can access coordinated palliative and end of life care, as early as possible, in their local community, instead of ending up in a crisis that requires use of ambulances, A&E, and emergency hospital admissions.

"The Plan outlines a welcome move towards a community-led approach for people in need of palliative and end of life care. To achieve this though, there will need to be a significant shift in current patterns of healthcare spending. In the UK, we currently spend five times as much on hospital care for people in the final year of life as we do on care in the community. We urge all governments across the UK to invest in more integrated care in the community for people with a terminal illness and their families."