Jonathan Ellis, director of public policy and parliamentary affairs, Help the Hospices, comments:
"Help the Hospices supports the Government’s efforts to improve the care that people receive at home and welcomes Gordon Brown’s pledge to provide more personalised care for cancer patients. This proposal would give patients more choice and control over the care that they receive"
“However, we want to see assurances that patients receiving palliative or end of life care will have the same right to specialised care at home as patients undergoing active treatment. We also want to see today’s pledge extended beyond cancer – giving patients with other life-threatening and life-limiting conditions equal access to such essential personalised and expert care."
"Personalised care and support for patients and their families is at the heart of what hospices do – supporting people primarily in their own homes. We call on the Labour Party to learn from the successful model of care developed by the hospice movement. Any plans for a National Care Service must make sure the wide reaching needs of people at the end of life are met."
