§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has for progressing the partnership between his Department, Marie Curie Cancer Care and other voluntary organisations in the field of palliative care with particular reference to(a) improving services for people who choose to die at home and (b) increasing the number of people who are able to die at home; [174395]
(2) what action he is taking to increase the number of terminally ill patients who are able to exercise their choice to die at home; [174396]
(3) what further plans he has for supporting choice in palliative care for cancer patients to meet the commitment given in the recent document, Building the Best: Choice, Responsiveness and Equity in the NHS; [174397]
(4) what assessment he has made of the potential savings to the NHS if more terminally ill people were given the choice of dying at home. [174621]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 20 May 2004]: Building on the Best commits the Department to improve care for people coming to the end of their lives by taking forward training programmes to ensure that all patients, regardless of their diagnosis, will have access to high quality palliative care.
An additional total of £12 million investment over three years was announced by the Secretary of State on 26 December 2003. This additional money will widen the pool of staff who are trained in meeting the needs of people nearing the end of their lives. As a result more patients will be offered appropriate support in the setting of their choice.
The cancer services collaborative is currently working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Relief, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Lancashire and South Cumbria Cancer Network to support the implementation of specific end of life care tools. These tools, recommended in the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance on supportive and palliative care for adults with cancer as examples of good practice, will be adapted to meet the needs of other patient groups.
Over time this investment will result in greater choice for patients in where they wish to live and die and a decrease in the numbers of older people transferred from care homes to a district general hospital in the last week of life and emergency admissions of patients who expressly wish to die at home or care home.
We are also currently identifying pilots to develop an integrated cancer care model for cancer patients shaped by users and involving health and social services and the voluntary sector. These pilots will specifically address issues about caring for patients at home and the possible reduction of costs of hospital services.