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Responding to a new report out today by the National Council of Palliative Care (NCPC) [1] which reveals that just 46 percent of Health and Wellbeing Boards [2] with public strategies have considered the needs of those at the end of life, Mike Hobday, Director of Policy and Research at Macmillan Cancer Support, says:
“It is incredibly disappointing that half of the new Health and Wellbeing Boards are not thinking about the needs of people with a terminal illness [3] and are failing to prioritise improving end of life care. “These new boards are in an excellent position to help coordinate end of life health and social care services. We believe this would reduce unnecessary emergency hospital admissions and offer families and carers much-needed support. To help make this a reality the Government must provide free social care at the end of life so everyone has the choice to die at home if they wish.”
“It is incredibly disappointing that half of the new Health and Wellbeing Boards are not thinking about the needs of people with a terminal illness [3] and are failing to prioritise improving end of life care.
“These new boards are in an excellent position to help coordinate end of life health and social care services. We believe this would reduce unnecessary emergency hospital admissions and offer families and carers much-needed support. To help make this a reality the Government must provide free social care at the end of life so everyone has the choice to die at home if they wish.”
Claire Keuls, Media & PR Officer, 020 7840 4872 (out of hours 07801 307 068) ckeuls@macmillan.org.uk|
1 National Council for Palliative Care (2012) What about end of life care? Mapping England’s Health & Wellbeing Boards’ vision for dying people www.ncpc.org.uk/freedownloads|
2 Health and wellbeing boards are statutory bodies which were introduced as part of the NHS reforms outlined in the Health and Social Care Act 2012. According to the Act, each upper-tier authority in England is required to form a health and wellbeing board as a local authority committee.
3 38 of 83 newly-created Health and Wellbeing Boards with public strategies have considered the needs of dying people
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