New philosophy
The active and dedicated care of the dying person is relatively new as a philosophy and a service in our society – and is still far from universal in the UK, let alone in the rest of the world. Moreover, there is still a reluctance in our society to accept dying as a part of living.
Progress
Much progress has been made in recent decades towards better care of the dying and support for their family and friends. Many people can now benefit from a higher quality of life in their last days, weeks and months. We believe that the rise of the hospice movement is the single greatest force behind this progress.
Challenges
But there are also huge challenges ahead. We have an ageing population, with more people with complex health needs who will need to be cared for as they face the end of life. As well as this, hospices are increasingly caring for people of all ages, both as patients and through their bereavement and carers services.
The vast majority of those cared for by hospices have cancer. While
hospices care for some people with other illnesses and conditions, many more could benefit from their high quality services. There are other groups, such as those from different ethnic backgrounds, who are in a similar position. Looking overseas, hospice and palliative care is simply not an option for huge numbers of people.
This all means that there are still many, many people dying today in
avoidable pain and suffering.
