Autumn Budget does nothing to support care for people who are dying
Comment published
Marie Curie Chief Executive Matthew Reed said:
"The Chancellor rightly acknowledged the importance of our first 1001 days of life, but as is sadly so often the case, made no mention of our last. The needs of terminally ill people and their families have been forgotten in this Budget. It's right to address the NHS backlog, but dying people urgently need focussed improvements in care and support, and today was a missed opportunity to set out a strategy for resourcing palliative care provision both now and in the future.
"While the Chancellor has missed an opportunity today, the Health & Care Bill currently before Parliament provides a once in a generation chance to fix a unsustainable, inequitable system of care when people are dying. It is the eleventh hour but Ministers can act now to make end of life care fair. Marie Curie has launched a petition to introduce a legal requirement for end of life care to be commissioned in every part of England.
"Whilst it is good to see the Budget reconfirm existing plans to change how terminally ill people access benefits, there is nothing new to ensure that people get the financial support they need at the end of life. Dying people and their loved ones who have to give up work, either due to ill health or to provide care, will not benefit from the increase to the living wage, or the changes to the Universal Credit taper. Much more urgently needs to be done to ensure that no one spends the end of their life in poverty.
"In the face of soaring energy prices, far too many people are spending the end of their life unable to heat their homes. At very minimum the Government should have committed to ensuring that no one living with terminal illness misses out on the Warm home Discount, which can provide critical help with fuel costs. Far too many families with a loved one who is dying, will spend this Christmas worrying about paying the bills, rather than in the Chancellor's words 'the moments that make life worth living".