29.11.12
End of life care varies across UK
There is wide variation in quality of end of life care based on geographic location, new statistics show.
The ONS was commissioned to conduct the VOICES survey, to gather data on the experiences of bereaved people and the quality of care received by loved ones in the last three months of life
Results showed that health services in the South West regularly rated in the top 20% across all areas of care, whereas the poorest care was found in London, where health services regularly rated in the bottom 20%.
Care and support minister Norman Lamb said: “All people have the right to the best quality of care at the end of their life, and we have made clear our commitment to achieving this.
“This survey shows that a wide variation in the quality of end of life care remains. Whilst there are some excellent examples of care, there is still more to do to ensure that standards are raised across the country.
“The results of this survey will be carefully studied by NHS and social care professionals, comparing the care they deliver with other similar areas and ensuring that they learn from the best.”
Dr Martin McShane, domain lead (long term conditions) at the NHS Commissioning Board said: “We are serious about improving end of life care, and to do that we absolutely need to know how people experience end of life care services. The VOICES survey allows us to hear patients and families, and we should listen to them.
“This supplementary report provides further valuable analysis of the data from the VOICES survey. It complements the range of information that is now being generated to address the lack of data for end of life care, such as through locality profiles developed by the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network.
“In enabling benchmarking of regional services, this analysis will be of great value to those responsible for commissioning and delivering end of life care.”
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