15th May 2009
By Graham Clews
People nearing the end of their life should be allotted a single health or social care professional to ensure they receive co-ordinated and appropriate care, MPs have said.
A Public Accounts Committee report on end-of-life care, published on May 14, called for primary care trusts to ensure care plans are drawn up for anyone who wants one.
It also urged the Department of Health to ask PCTs to account for how they have spent the £268m designated for the NHS End-of-Life Care Strategy announced in July last year.
Although most people say they want to die at home, 60% die in acute hospitals even when there is no clinical need for them to be there. The PAC says PCTs and strategic health authorities should increase the level of community services available, such as 24-hour district nursing, to enable more people to die at home, and ensure they have properly trained staff.
A National Audit Office report published last year recommended much greater joint planning, after finding that quality of care and spending per patient varied enormously across England.
PAC chair Edward Leigh said the ‘gold standard’ of hospices should be learnt from. ‘There must also be a more responsive system for providing the equipment and support services to help more people die with as much dignity and comfort as possible in their homes or care homes,’ he said.
