Help the Hospices, the UK’s leading charity supporting hospice care, welcomes the ‘Quality of death’ index and believes that the UK’s ranking is thanks to the hard work of independent charitable hospices. But the charity cautions that there are still too many people facing the end of life without specialist care and support.
Hospices are a major provider of palliative care in the UK, making sure Britons receive some of the world’s best medical, social, emotional and psychological care when facing the end of life.
As a contributor to the report, David Praill, chief executive of Help the Hospices, explains:
"This is the first time a ranking of palliative care globally has been attempted and despite Britain not having a perfect healthcare system, it is heartening to see the UK coming top of the index.
"Hospice care was pioneered in the UK and this report highlights just how well hospices meet the wide-ranging needs of people with life-limiting and terminal illnesses and their friends and family, both in their own homes and in a hospice.
"Hospices are rooted in the communities they serve and it is only thanks to the generosity of the local community that UK hospices are able to lead the way in providing end of life care."
While many people in the UK receive excellent hospice and palliative care, the system is far from perfect and there remains a huge disparity in the level of NHS funding for end of life care, which can vary from £13 per head of population to less than £2.
David Praill adds:
"Despite the success of the hospice sector there are still people who face the end of life without specialist care and support. Palliative care is a human right and in the UK we still have a lot of work to do to make sure that everyone is supported at the end of life, irrespective of where they choose to be cared for, where they live or what conditions they have.
"Our ageing population means more people will be dying and they will be dying with more complex needs. Therefore, demand for hospice and palliative care services are set to increase, so it is vital we have a fair and sustainable system of funding that meets the needs of people at the most vulnerable time of their lives."
One of the indicators of the index was the level of public awareness of end of life care, where the UK was ranked highest along with Ireland and Belgium.
However, as Praill explains, this does not mean that Britons are comfortable talking about dying:
"We need a much wider public debate about dying in the UK. We are ranked highly thanks to government initiatives such as the End of Life Care Strategy (2008), which has raised awareness among policy makers and care professionals, but it does not mean this level of awareness is replicated among the general public.
"The debate around assisted dying has generated huge media attention, but we haven’t seen the same depth of discussion around the overall experience of death and dying."
One of the most important lessons to take from this report is the work that needs to be done globally to improve quality of death. While more than 100 million patients and family caregivers worldwide need palliative care every year, less than eight per cent actually receive this.
As co-chair of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance, Praill concludes:
"Hospice and palliative care is still unavailable to many of those in need, especially in the developing world, with millions of people dying in pain and distress every year. Huge barriers remain to us achieving our vision for universal access to palliative care.
This report gives a snapshot of the issues, such as poor access to pain relief, lack of government led policy and cultural barriers, that need to be addressed urgently."
The ‘quality of death’ index, commissioned by the Lien Foundation, puts the UK at the top of an index of 40 countries. The index provides a snapshot of the provision of end of life care in each country, including the access to hospice care, the level of government involvement and public awareness.
Media contacts
Interviews are available on request.
Please contact the Help the Hospices media team on media@helpthehospices.org.uk / 020 7520 8251.
For out of hours media enquires please call 07881 940318.
References
Economist Intelligence Unit. The quality of death: ranking end-of-life care across the world. London: Economist Intelligence Unit, July 2010.
Department of Health (DH). Survey of expenditure by primary care trusts on hospice/specialist palliative care services for the year 2006/07. London: DH, 2008.
