NCPC welcomes CQC report, but is concerned about future pressures on health and social care

The National Council for Palliative Care is concerned about the variations in end of life care highlighted by the Care Quality Commission in its latest report, The State of Health Care and Adult Social Care In England. The report found that while 59% of acute hospital end of life care is rated Good or Outstanding by the CQC, 41% was rated as Inadequate or Requires Improvement.
 
Moreover, the CQC identified variations in end of life care, with some groups experiencing poorer quality care. One source of variation was a failure in some places to have early end of life care conversations with dying people, leading to lack of understanding of individuals’ needs.
 
Simon Chapman, Director of Policy and External Affairs for the NCPC said “Everybody has a right to good quality end of life care, whoever they are, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances. This report from the CQC shows that many places are managing to deliver this, but too many are not. Poor quality end of life care means greater and unnecessary suffering for individuals and their families. That’s why the Government has recently made a National Commitment to improve end of life care. Local decision-makers in health and care need to review what people’s experience of end of life care is like in their area and make plans to improve it.”
 
The NCPC also flagged concerns about the future of care. Says Simon “the CQC report points out that overall the health and social care system is delivering good care to most people in tough financial conditions. But we know from demographic data that the number of people dying in England each year will rise from about 480,000 in 2015 to about 550,000 by 2035, and increasingly people are dying over a longer period of time of complex conditions. Good end of life care is about maintaining a good quality of life for as long as possible, and we fear that a system that is already under pressure may struggle to cope as the numbers needing end of life care increase.”
 
Simon also said “what this report also shows is the need for good conversations about end of life care choices. Health and care staff need to be trained to have these conversations, but we all owe it to ourselves and our families to start thinking about our own choices. The Government’s National Commitment on End of Life Care gives a most welcome emphasis on individual choice, but how many of us even know what the full range of options are?”