Latest news from SPPC

Palliative Care Funding Review - Interim Report

In December 2010 the Palliative Care Funding Review team published its interim report, which can be viewed at:  http://palliativecarefunding.org.uk/InterimReport.pdf

(This report is the result of the Coalition Government’s commitment to introducing a new per-patient funding system for providers of palliative care. The Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, asked Tom Hughes-Hallett (Marie Curie Cancer Care), to chair an independent review with the specific remit of recommending a funding system which enables dedicated palliative care to be available for all people in England who require it.)

Commission on Assisted Dying

The Commission on Assisted Dying was launched on 30 November 2010. Demos are providing the research secretariat and administrative support to the Commission, which was set up with funding provided by Bernard Lewis and Terry Pratchett. A statement from Dignity in Dying states that it “helped to facilitate the creation of the Commission, and secured its funding although beyond this it has played no role and the Commission, including the Chair, Commissioners and Secretariat are independent of Dignity in Dying”.

The Commission’s website states that:

“The commission is to act entirely independently and the commission alone will be responsible for its conclusions. In particular, the commission will be independent from Demos and the funders.”

The aims of the commission, are to:

• investigate the circumstances under which it should be possible for people to be assisted to die
• recommend what system, if any, should exist to allow people to be assisted to die
• identify who should be entitled to be assisted to die
• determine what safeguards should be put in place to ensure that vulnerable people are neither abused nor pressured to choose an assisted death
• recommend what changes in the law, if any, should be introduced

More information is available at: www.commissiononassisteddying.co.uk

A good death - time to think

Details from the UK’s first ever regional public consultation on death and dying were published in November.  The three-month survey – carried out by NHS North East – was designed to improve end of life care and support by encouraging people to talk about it.

The consultation revealed that: 

• almost two in three have not discussed their end of life wishes
• more than half would prefer to die at home
• the majority said that being free of pain was the most important thing when it comes to end of life care
• nine in ten would want to be told if they had a terminal illness
• one in six said that making death easier for family would be the main reason for making formal plans.
• those aged between 35 and 44 are most likely to have an organ donor card.

 A full report and a summary report of this work is available at: www.agooddeath.co.uk

Results of the Help the Hospices/NCPC funding survey

In December 2010 Help the Hospices and the National Council for Palliative Care released findings from a survey of palliative care providers in England and Wales on funding. The report highlights that 30% of hospices have experienced a cut in their statutory funding in 2010–2011 compared to the previous year. Also, a third of respondents were aware of cuts in the number of care staff working in palliative and end of life care services. A third of respondents expect that their funding for 2010–2012 will also be reduced.

More information is available at: http://www.helpthehospices.org.uk/enewsletter/documents/summary_of_ncpc_hth_funding_survey_2010.pdf