Transforming end-of-life care
Are we ready to meet the increasing care needs for the terminally ill?
Marie Curie sees quality end-of-life care as a priority for all in Northern Ireland. However, dying isn’t always an easy subject to talk about. Research shows that, given the choice, most of us want to be able to die at home, surrounded by family, friends and the things we cherish. However, half of all deaths in Northern Ireland still occur in hospital, the place people tell us they would least like to be.
We also know that only 20 per cent of people with palliative care needs in Northern Ireland are identified as such. This means that majority of people with a terminal illness aren’t necessarily getting the care they need, or having their wishes for their end of life care taken into consideration, by health and social care professionals and their families.
This situation will only worsen with demand for end-of-life care set to grow and become increasingly complex, as our population grows older and management of multiple chronic illnesses becomes paramount.
These factors, as well as an increased demand on acute health services, are listed among the rationale for the Health and Social Care Board’s reform programme, Transforming Your Care, which aims to help more people receive care at home.
Marie Curie Cancer Care gives people with all life-limiting illnesses the choice to be cared for whilst living at home, through our nursing services in the community and at our hospice, with the delivery of free expert, high-quality and compassionate care and vital emotional support, across Northern Ireland. Our track record and patient-centric approach makes us well-placed to support the design and delivery of high-quality end-of-life and palliative care services.
Marie Curie Cancer Care is working in partnership with the Health and Social Care Board and Northern Ireland stakeholders to design and deliver an innovative programme Transforming Your Palliative and End-Of-Life Care with the aim of improving palliative and end-of-life care for all.
This programme leverages the expertise of all sectors, including the community and voluntary sector, which was recognised in the Vision to Action consultation response. In a statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 25 June 2013, the Health Minister, Edwin Poots MLA, commended the programme: “Its emphasis on supporting people to have choice at the end of their life and on enabling them to die in their preferred choice dovetails with the provision in Transforming Your Care to promote care closer to home and enhance patient choice.”
Commenting on current pressures faced by the sector, Joan McEwan, Head of Policy and Public Affairs for Northern Ireland said: “We need to be better equipped to be able to respond to the huge increase in the care needs of terminally ill people in Northern Ireland. We want everyone, wherever they live, to be able to have a ‘good death’, provided with the care they want and need, with support available for them and their families."
