Marie Curie responds to the Labour Party’s pledge to increase home care workers to treat terminally ill people in their own beds

Marie Curie is the leading charity in the UK for people living with a terminal illness. In response to the Labour Party announcement today, pledging 5,000 extra home care workers to treat terminally ill people in their own beds, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Marie Curie, Phil McCarvill said:
 
“We have developed a manifesto, in partnership with a number of charities, that represents what the next government will need to do for terminally ill people and their families.
 
“It is vital that the next government, whoever that may be, works hard to improve the situation for people living with a terminal illness and their loved ones, and help them to live well for as long as possible.
 
“When people with a terminal illness are experiencing long stays in hospital, simply because there is a lack of care available in the community, there needs to be change to the system.
 
“Better access to community care is vital but we also need to see much greater availability of 24/7 advice, information and support. At the moment, too many services only run during office hours and when someone has a crisis, they only have the emergency services to turn to.
 
“We say to all political parties that this situation doesn’t make sense. Everyone who is terminally ill should get the care they need to make the most of the time they have left.
 
“Whoever forms the next Government will need to take this situation very seriously and much more thought needs to be given to how we support people and improve the quality of life for people living with a terminal illness.”
 
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