Role of Policy Unit

The Policy Unit will produce practical policy solutions for the development of existing palliative care services and the expansion of palliative care services into new disease areas. This will be based upon the continuous collection and analysis of palliative care services data on a national scale, together with the informed perspectives of users and professionals.

In particular, we will develop a vision of what palliative care services will be needed for each principal disease or patient group by the year 2020, and a strategy for achieving that vision, in partnership with a wide range of organisations from the voluntary, statutory and independent sectors. Our work will focus on the following policy areas:

• Data collection and analysis as the foundation upon which to analyse and develop palliative care services in a fully informed way
• The long-term future for palliative care (20:20 Vision)
• Developing and improving access to palliative care initially for:
  
  
  • People with cancer
  • People with circulatory and respiratory conditions
  • People with neurological conditions and other long-term diseases
  • Older People including palliative care in care homes.
    
    
• Developing user involvement in palliative care
• The impact of social disadvantage on access to palliative care services
• Widening access to palliative care services in under represented groups
• Co-morbidity (i.e. the needs of people with multiple life-threatening diseases)
• Improving general palliative care in the community.