Nuffield Trust research reinforces need for well designed and co-ordinated services that bridge the gap between health and social care

Marie Curie responds to the Nuffield Trust’s report ‘Understanding patterns of health and social care at the end of life’ commissioned by the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network.

Dr Jane Collins, Chief Executive, at Marie Curie said:

"People who are at the end of their lives do not have easily-categorised ‘health care’ or ‘social care’ needs; they have care needs that should be met through well designed and coordinated services.

"We know what people want at the end of their lives – they want to have their pain controlled and have their friends and family around them. We also know that, unfortunately, these basic needs are not always met.

"Hospices can provide care that is tailored to the individual, spanning the traditional divide between and health and social care. Marie Curie is developing community services that bridge the gap between health and social care and working to get people out of hospital to spend their last days in their preferred place of care.

"However, too many terminally ill people get stuck in hospital while waiting to access the services that would support them to get home. That’s why Marie Curie Cancer Care is working with five national charities* to campaign to ensure that the means-testing process for social care is removed for people who are terminally ill.

"It is only by ensuring that we get more people get of hospital and into more appropriate care that the government will be able to meet the twin challenges of an ageing society and ongoing economic pressures."

Marie Curie provides nursing care at home and in our nine hospices. We also fund palliative care research. Some examples of the charity’s work:

• Professionals who work to get people out of hospital - Marie Curie Discharge Liaison Nurses develop and implement individual discharge plans for patients and families. This ensures that care in the patient's place of choice can begin as quickly as possible. The service speeds up, supports and coordinates the discharge process providing a link between patients and various care providers whether hospital or community based.
• Services which bridge the gap between health and social care – for example, ‘Lothian Fast Track Discharge’ uses the coordination centre based at the Marie Curie Hospice, Edinburgh, to co-ordinate getting patients discharged home and cared for by a Marie Curie senior health and personal care assistant while waiting for care packages to be arranged. The service also supports people in their homes or care homes who might otherwise have needed to be admitted to hospital.
• Management of a new innovative Palliative Care Coordination Centre for NHS South of Tyne and Wear which aims to deliver the right end of life care to people across South of Tyne and Wear, enabling them to be cared for and die in the place of their choice. The centre brings together access to all services including community nursing, out of hours palliative care teams, social care, local hospices, care homes, the Marie Curie Nursing Service and respite support for carers. The Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) is launching a film on the coordination of services at end of life, which includes interviews with people involved in coordination at Marie Curie and from those who have experienced Marie Curie Services. It will be launched at the National End of Life Care Conference today.
• The Marie Curie End of Life Care Atlas is Marie Curie’s new information portal which gives commissioners of end of life care new insight into care provision in their local areas. This web-based mapping tool brings together a broad range of data on end of life care across the UK’s health landscape. End of life care can be compared across areas, and areas can be compared against national benchmarks on a range of key indicators.
  
  Visit Marie Curie End of Life Care Atlas

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