Marie Curie response to the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People publication

We always put terminally ill people, their families and carers at the heart of everything we do

Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb, announced today the key recommendations of the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People (LACDP) – the system-wide response to the 44 recommendations outlined in the independent review of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) More Care, Less Pathway. 

As the leading charity for terminally ill people and their families, Marie Curie along with other voluntary sector partners were invited by NHS England and other key regulatory and statutory bodies to help advise, support and contribute to the work of the Alliance.

Welcoming today’s publication, Dr Jane Collins, Chief Executive of Marie Curie, said:

"This is an important moment for end of life care in England. It is a real opportunity to tackle the massive variations in the care provided for people in the last days of life in hospitals across the country, as well as shine attention on our attitudes towards death and dying, the recognition of the importance of advanced care planning, and the care and support that all terminally ill people and their families receive.

"We’ve been providing high-quality care and support to people who are terminally ill and their families for more than 65 years, in our hospices and in the community. In our experience, the best care happens when it is tailored to the needs of the individual, their families and those close to them.

"The majority of the terminally ill people and families we work with tell us that they are very happy with the support and care that we provide – 99% rate the experience as very good or good.  We are committed to sharing our know-how with the NHS and other providers to ensure that the chances of experiencing excellent end of life care is not determined by where people live, the conditions they have or the services they use. 

"We strongly believe the care and support available to terminally ill people and their families must be built around their needs and wishes and not simply delivered in a way which works for service providers. The Priorities of Care should make this a reality.

"We know that failure to tackle poor end of life care condemns individuals to painful or uncomfortable deaths and leaves their families with regrets, questions and often resentment. This is why Marie Curie is also determined to observe how well the recommendations of the LACDP are being implemented and monitored by the responsible statutory and regulatory bodies – including the Department of Health, NHS England, CQC, GMC and NHS Hospital Trusts. We also welcome the Independent Panel’s role in providing independent advice to ministers about implementation of the commitments, and in particular the progress made by the statutory and regulatory bodies, over the next 12 months."

As part of this work, Marie Curie has stated its continued commitment to providing the best possible care for people with terminal illnesses and their families by providing high quality nursing and hospice care. We have also committed to supporting other organisations to do the same, working in partnership with others to improve the care everyone who needs end of life care receives. Specifically we are committed to contributing by:

• sharing ways to improve the experiences of terminally ill people and their families, including support for families after the death, whether in the community, hospice or hospital
• doubling our funding of research including into better symptom management and improving the experience for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups and other groups who are less likely to be able to access specialist palliative care
• supporting the NHS to improve how care is delivered in ways that best meet needs of people and their families
• sharing our know-how of what works and highlighting new ways of delivering care which may better meet the needs of terminally ill people, their families and carers

The Independent Panel highlighted some fundamental failures of care of the dying and the work of the Alliance has outlined what needs to be done. The important thing now is to take the decisive action needed to improve quality of care, putting terminally ill people, their families and carers at the centre, and tackle poor quality care wherever it exists.  

Visit the gov.uk website to read the Department of Health's response to the review.