Marie Curie response to the Autumn Statement

Dr Sam Royston, Director of Policy and Research at the end-of-life charity, Marie Curie, responds to the Autumn Statement and the Chancellor's decision to uprate benefits in line with inflation and his focus on health and social care:

"Our nurses are seeing patients who are afraid to boil their kettles and are sitting in cold homes because they can't afford to run their specialist medical equipment and keep the heating on. Meanwhile, one in five calls to Marie Curie's support line is now about financial worries.

"And though we welcome today's decision to increase benefits in line with inflation, that alone won't stop people with terminal illness slipping into poverty.

"On top of their devastating diagnosis, dying people are having to battle against lost income alongside spiralling costs. We are particularly worried for the one in four working age people who spend their final year in poverty.

"We have written to ministers and have been calling on the government to give terminally ill people access to their State Pension, regardless of their age.

"Along with targeted support with childcare and energy costs, this would provide the protection needed to prevent a terminal illness from plunging people below the poverty line.

"It's just 38 days until Christmas. Terminally ill people should be making memories with their loved ones, not worrying about whether a cold home will mean that they die before their last Christmas.

"It is good to see the Chancellor's focus on health and social care, particularly his commitment to workforce planning and for additional funding to help enable people to quickly get home from hospital.

"However, with a quarter of dying people currently not getting the care they need, we urgently need more clarification of how this additional support will reach those at the end of life – reducing pain and suffering, avoiding unnecessary time spent in the back of ambulances and in hospital beds, and enabling everyone to have a good death."