Government to launch multi-million pound 'end-of-life' strategy » Health » 24dash.com

The Government will launch a new multi-million pound strategy today to support people as they come to the end of their lives.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis will announce new measures to provide better support and care to those who wish to die at home.

People will be given more control over where they die and will be encouraged to make their wishes known.

More support for carers, community nurses on call 24/7 in all areas, and better training for staff are included in the 10-year strategy for England.

Mr Johnson told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "The most important objective is to ensure that people's individual needs, their priorities, their preferences for end-of-life care are identified, they are documented, they are reviewed, they are respected and acted upon wherever possible.

"That message has to go out everywhere within the NHS and that's the important starting point for everything else: if you conduct everything you do around these issues on the basis of the individual and their carer, what would they prefer, and then you draw up a car plan for them and put that into force."

He went on: "You go back to the beginning of the 20th century and people were familiar with death - many people died at home, they died of diseases at a young age.

"When the NHS came along... as a result people die in hospitals whether they want to or not, and sometimes there are issues about how they die in hospitals.

"But the big issue for us today is to give the choice to everyone.

He said the Government was putting £286 million into the project over the next three years but complained that some media were refusing to run the story because it was "too depressing for their viewers and listeners".

Paul Cann, director of policy at Help the Aged, welcomed the strategy.

"The need to secure dignity in dying is of critical importance for older people and those who care for them.

"For far too long, there has been a presumption that death should be at the convenience of the system, as opposed to respecting the individual wishes of those who are approaching their final days.

 "Enhanced support and advice at a local level would greatly assist older people in exercising real choice about where they die.

"One area which requires particular focus is in the management of pain - Help the Aged continues to hear too many cases of older people left to face death without effective pain management.

"We hope that this will be a major focus within this strategy."

Martin Green, Chief Executive of the English Community Care Association (ECCA) said: "This strategy has the potential to revolutionise end-of-life care and to ensure that all the resources in the system deliver good quality experiences for people at the end of their lives and for those who love, care or work with them."

The Government said its strategy was backed by £286 million of new money.

Mr Johnson added: "People coming to the end of their lives, and their loved ones, deserve high-quality, compassionate and dignified care, on their own terms. This strategy will help make that happen.

"We have already made £40 million available to hospices to improve environments and provide greater dignity for patients, and we recently invested £4.5 million to help build a Marie Curie state-of-the-art hospice in the West Midlands.

"Now this increased funding will continue momentum for improvement and help make sure that everyone gets access to high-quality palliative care and has choice about where that care takes place."

Dr Teresa Tate, medical adviser for Marie Curie Cancer Care, said: "We recognise that it is the actual implementation of the strategy, not its publication, which will make the real difference.

"Marie Curie Cancer Care is therefore pleased to see the extra resources which the Government is making available to support the roll-out of the Strategy.

"Through our Delivering Choice Programme we have shown that it is possible to double the number of people supported to spend their final days at home - at no extra cost to the Government.

"We look forward to working with the NHS locally to help deliver end-of-life care to all those who need it, turning the Strategy into reality for patients and families."

Actor Hugh Grant, Marie Curie's ambassador, said: "I am delighted to see that the Government is now honouring its 2005 manifesto pledge to double investment in end-of-life care."