Marie Curie warns of looming end of life care crisis as sector braces for “the worst winter ever” due to COVID-19
Press release published
- Last winter an estimated 180,000 dying people needed palliative care
- The need for end of life care is set to increase, while the pandemic has exposed fragility of sector which relies heavily on marathons and cake sales to fund care of dying in UK
- Without more government funding, Marie Curie warns of more people dying without vital support they need
End of life charity Marie Curie is warning that more dying people won’t get the vital support they need this winter, as the hospice and end of life care sector braces itself for what could be the worst winter ever as demand for services is expected to surge.
Last winter alone over 240,000 people died1, with 180,000 (75%) of these estimated to have needed some form of palliative care2. The charity is concerned that the death toll could be much worse this winter.
Marie Curie says that further outbreaks of COVID-19, the backlog of people who missed out on crucial diagnoses or treatment during lockdown, and the usual winter pressures associated with seasonal flu, will see more people than ever needing extra care and support at the end of their life. Yet, around 300 people a day – one in four – already miss out on the support they need3.
The charity warns that the pandemic has also exposed the fragility of the hospice and end of life care sector, which is reliant on donations from the public to survive. Marie Curie argues that it is no longer acceptable or realistic to expect charity shops, cake sales or fundraising events to financially ‘prop up’ care of the dying in the UK. With the sector already stretched to its limits even before the pandemic, the charity says it is long overdue for governments to step up and properly fund end of life care.
Marie Curie’s Medical Director and Consultant in Palliative Care, Dr Sarah Holmes:
“It’s all coming this winter, which we fear could be the worst winter ever. The patients we’re seeing out in the community at the moment are at risk. In some instances, their support networks quite literally disappeared overnight at the start of lockdown. They may have missed out on treatment over the last few months and they’re frail and vulnerable; they are going to be more prone to flu and will suffer the consequences of a system struggling to deal with COVID-19 and other winter pressures.
“It is almost inevitable that we are going to see a huge surge in the need for compassionate care in the community for people at the end of their lives. The need to ensure dying people have the best possible end of life experience has never been greater.
“At Marie Curie, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we’ve been able to expand and adapt our frontline services to support more people in crisis during the first wave of the pandemic4, but we, as well as many other charity providers, can’t sustain the level of care needed in the longer term without more sustainable funding.”
Marie Curie’s Chief Executive, Matthew Reed:
“Before COVID, the UK was already struggling to meet the demands for end of life care, with shockingly one in four people missing out. The hospice and end of life care charities like Marie Curie were hit hard when lockdown meant that most of our fundraising had to stop overnight, but we kept open so we could serve the public when they most needed us. Whilst Marie Curie was able to weather this initial shock, our funding is still vulnerable to future lockdowns, and we’re concerned that other providers are now seriously weakened and will now struggle to cope with the surge in demand for end of life care this winter.
“The stark reality is that unless the government invests more in end of life care, more people in the UK will tragically not receive good end of life care and existing services may be cut. We’d be moving backwards, not forwards; winter is coming.
“As the UK’s largest end of life charity, providing care to over 40,000 dying people and their loved ones each year, we know what a difference proper end of life care can make. When someone dies in needless pain or is separated from their loved ones at the end of life, this is not only a poor experience for the dying person, it can be deeply traumatic for the family, leading to complex grief.
“No one wants to see a repeat of what happened during the first wave of COVID-19, with thousands of people dying alone, separated from their loved ones. We need a world where everyone receives the best possible end of life experience, and that requires end of life care to be put on a new financial footing. We wouldn’t tolerate the availability of maternity care being conditional on the success of the Christmas fete. It’s time for end of life to have a new contract with government.”
-Ends-
For more information please contact:
Adam Orr, Media and PR Manager
Email: adam.orr@mariecurie.org.uk
Mob: 07469 993215
Interview available with Marie Curie Medical Director and Consultant in Palliative Care, Dr Sarah Holmes
Notes To Editor
References:
1 Based on number of people who died in the UK – 239,276 Oct 19-Feb 20 inc
2 Based on above figures an estimated 75% or 179,500 people dying with palliative care need (October-February) (75% estimate: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-017-0860-2)
3 Based on the estimated number of people dying with palliative care need, a quarter of those would be potentially missing out on a palliative approach (1 in 4 estimate: LSE) https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/globalassets/media/documents/policy/campaigns/equity-palliative-care-uk-report-full-lse.pdf
4 Marie Curie has been providing 3,000 extra nursing care visits a month for dying people with and without coronavirus in their own homes during lockdown and also accelerated the introduction of a bereavement service and support for those isolated in lockdown and help for care homes