SENIOR doctors have urged the government to prioritise improvements in palliative care following MPs' support for changes to the law allowing assisted dying.
The Association for Palliative Medicine (APM) warned that funding for implementing assisted dying could divert resources away from care for terminally ill patients, the BBC reported.
The APM has called for a government-led commission to address shortages in palliative care funding and coordination, highlighting that these issues are already denying many people access to adequate care.
Dr Sarah Cox, APM president, told the BBC: “health secretary Wes Streeting said part of the reason he could not vote for assisted dying was because palliative care was not good enough. So I would say to him, now is the time to fix that.”
A recent report from the Office for Health Economics stressed the need for increased palliative care funding to meet the demands of an ageing population. About 450,000 people in the UK require palliative care annually, but charity Marie Curie reported that 100,000 do not receive it, with families often dissatisfied with the care provided.
Hospices, serving around 300,000 people annually, face significant financial challenges, raising most of their funding independently. A parliamentary report described this funding model as “not fit for purpose.”
Marie Curie's Sam Royston called for urgent action on palliative care, stating, “The needs of people at the end of life are being neglected.”
While some MPs argued that assisted dying could enhance palliative care, Dr Cox cautioned that limited NHS resources could worsen existing gaps in care. Prof Sam Ahmedzai noted that in some countries, both systems coexist successfully, but greater training for GPs and other care providers is essential.
Vikram Doraiswami
Andrew Quintman
Lord Jitesh Gadhia