Marie Curie statement on the Joint Committee for the Draft Care and Support Bill’s report

Commenting on the Joint Committee for the Draft Care and Support Bill’s report, which was published today, Imelda Redmond CBE, Director of Policy & Public Affairs for Marie Curie Cancer Care said:

"Marie Curie Cancer Care welcomes the Joint Committee for the Draft Care and Support Bill’s report. The Bill is a ground-breaking piece of work which will simplify the legislation around care and support and make it easier for people and their carers to access the services they need. The recommendations by the Joint Committee will strengthen the Bill further.

"Marie Curie is particularly pleased to see that the amendment we proposed to the Draft Care and Support Bill, to fast track means and care needs assessments for people who are terminally ill has been recommended for inclusion in the final Bill by the Joint Committee for the Draft Care and Support Bill.

"Research by the Nuffield Trust shows that terminally ill people who receive social care are less likely to use hospital care. If the Marie Curie Cancer Care amendment is agreed in the final bill, it will mean that those with a terminal illness will no longer face long waits for social care they so desperately need and for many it will mean being able to avoid prolonged admissions to hospital, the place where people say they would least want to be near the end of their lives."

For people who are terminally ill and their families, time is the most precious resource – waiting a month, sometimes in hospital, is far too long.

Marie Curie’s amendment would:

• Place a statutory duty on local authorities to fast-track care needs and financial assessment within 24 hours for terminally ill people with less than six months left to live
• Place a statutory duty on local authorities to offer carers of someone who is terminally ill a carers assessment

-ENDS-