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For immediate release
Responding to the NICE draft quality standards for end of life care Helen Rainbow, Senior Policy Analyst at Macmillan Cancer Support, said:
'We are encouraged that NICE has recognised in these standards the importance of Macmillan’s call for access to 24 hour community nursing services for all cancer patients at the end of their life in England. 'The next step is to make sure that the palliative care funding review and the outcomes framework incentivise best practice in end of life care. They need to lay out clear expectations to ensure commissioners across England have a 24/7 community nursing service in place as standard. Only then will choice become a reality and people who wish to die at home be able to do so. 'Macmillan Cancer Support worked with the National Council for Palliative Care and its member organisations and found that overwhelmingly 24/7 community nursing is the most important aspect for the delivery of quality end of life care1. Without it is not possible for people to die at home if they so wish.'
'We are encouraged that NICE has recognised in these standards the importance of Macmillan’s call for access to 24 hour community nursing services for all cancer patients at the end of their life in England.
'The next step is to make sure that the palliative care funding review and the outcomes framework incentivise best practice in end of life care. They need to lay out clear expectations to ensure commissioners across England have a 24/7 community nursing service in place as standard. Only then will choice become a reality and people who wish to die at home be able to do so.
'Macmillan Cancer Support worked with the National Council for Palliative Care and its member organisations and found that overwhelmingly 24/7 community nursing is the most important aspect for the delivery of quality end of life care1. Without it is not possible for people to die at home if they so wish.'
Andrea Shufflebotham, Media & PR Officer, Macmillan Cancer Support
020 7840 4689 (out of hours 07801 307068)
1. NCPC Macmillan conference report|
Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer, providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support. Working alongside people affected by cancer, Macmillan works to improve cancer care. One in three of us will get cancer. Two million of us are living with it. If you are affected by cancer Macmillan can help.
For more information about Macmillan Cancer Support, visit www.macmillan.org.uk| or freephone 0800 500 800.