Postcode lottery warning on end of life care

Help the Hospices said that everyone should have access to exemplary care services.

The charity made its comments after new Office For National Statistics figures showed that the quality of care, dignity and respect shown to patients in the last three months of their lives significantly varied across England.

Jonathan Ellis, director of public policy at Help the Hospices, said: “It is unacceptable that there is still a postcode lottery in end of life care.

“Today’s report is another reminder that dying is not just a health issue.

“Good end of life care meets the social, emotional, spiritual and physical needs of all those affected both at end of life and into bereavement.

“This ethos is central to hospice care, and as a result, hospices were the highest rated end of life care setting in the National Bereavement Survey 2011, with 92 per cent of people rating it as good or excellent.”