End-of-life care needs a fundamental review, not just more funding | Letters
Prof Sam H Ahmedzai and Dr Greg Mewett respond to an editorial about the crisis in funding in England’s adult hospice sectorYour editorial (29 October) highlights the urgent need for...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
Prof Sam H Ahmedzai and Dr Greg Mewett respond to an editorial about the crisis in funding in England’s adult hospice sector Your editorial ( 29 October ) highlights the urgent need for better funding for end-of-life care. As a physician and academic who has worked in this area for 40 years, I would like to raise three underlying issues. First, it implies that hospices are the only model for delivering good end-of-life care. It is arguable that in Britain we have overrelied on the charitable sector. We now have NHS-funded hospital palliative care teams who can provide excellent care when patients are coming to the end of life but still needing specialist treatments – which very often hospices cannot or will not offer. Continue reading...