An amendment proposed during the recent Health and Care Bill debate in Parliament would introduce a specific requirement for clinical specialist palliative care services to be commissioned by Integrated Care Boards in every part of England. The amendment, put forward by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, aims to improve care without increasing overall costs for the NHS. Peers provided evidence to support this amendment, with several citing ongoing research from the Marie Curie Better End of Life Programme, led by Professor Katherine Sleeman of the Cicely Saunders Institute. A recording of the debate can be watched on the Parliament Live TV Player.

As a result of the ageing population, in 20 years there will be 100,000 more people dying each year in the UK. This will mean the need for palliative and end of life care will increase dramatically, as people will live for longer with multiple and complex conditions. 

The Better End of Life Programme is a three-year collaborative project between Marie Curie, King’s College London’s Cicely Saunders Institute, Hull York Medical School, the University of Hull and the University of Cambridge. The project started in January 2021 and aims to examine experiences of dying, death and bereavement in the UK. The first report from the programme examined dying, death and bereavement during the Covid-19 pandemic, and is available here. 

Full details on the Health and Care Bill can be found on the UK Parliament website.