Engage communities and train carers to provide end-of-life care: UK expert

From Palliative Matters

In this article, Dr Richardson, joint chief executive of St Christopher’s Hospice and an honorary professor in the International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University, shares some of her thoughts.

Presenting at the Palliative Care Victoria conference today, Dr Heather Richardson said while the UK sat at the top of the 2015 Quality of Death Index, it “had done appallingly” in terms of ensuring access to care. She said 100,000 people every year don’t receive palliative care even if they would benefit from it.

“Our focus is on the person in our bed or in front of us and we fail to remember the many who are waiting to get in, or who have never been referred. That is one of our blind spots.”

Dr Richardson said she saw value in shifting focus from lobbying for increased funding, to changing public perceptions of palliative care and engaging and up-skilling local people and communities who could contribute to end-of-life care.

Read the full article here.