Marie Curie response to Economist Intelligence Unit report on The 2015 Quality of Death Index

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has published a report on The Quality of Death Index which shows that The UK has the best quality of death in the world.

In response to the report, Simon Jones, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Marie Curie, said: 

“While we recognise the great work that makes the UK a world leader in palliative care, we know from our own research that each year around 110,000 people are missing out on care that they urgently need. If there is a ‘business as usual’ approach following this report, then we will only see more cases of vulnerable people failing to get the care they need.

“This report must be viewed in context.  One in five people who die in the UK are not getting the care they need. This quite simply is not good enough.  With more people dying each year, the demand for compassionate palliative care will only increase.  Our collective ambition must be to ensure better access to palliative care for everyone who needs it.  Whilst there is no magic wand, we can start by ensuring that front-line health and social care professionals, local NHS leaders, policy makers and the public know what palliative care can achieve, who it can benefit, and how access to it can be improved. After all, palliative care is everyone’s business.”