Ruth Driscoll: £250m "too little too late"

Ruth Driscoll, Marie Curie's Associate Director for Policy and Public Affairs England, said in response to the UK Government's £250million funding announced to tackle hospital bed pressures in England:

"The Government's announcement of additional funding is welcome, but this package of piecemeal measures is too little too late for many patients at the end of life who are already in crisis. They struggle to access the health and social care they need in the community, particularly at nights and weekends.

"There are 650,000 out-of-hours visits to hospital A&E departments and many unplanned hospital admissions taking place for end of life patients in England each year. It has never been more urgent for the Government to invest not only short-term injections of cash, but also longer-term funding and solutions to deliver the workforce and services needed to ensure people at the end of life get the care and support they deserve."