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A new Future Vision Cymru programme, 'Seamless and Sustainable', has been launched by Hospice UK to support the 136,000 people it's estimated would benefit from palliative and end of life care during the course of the current Senedd.
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Current estimates suggest as many as one in four Welsh people are missing out on the right care at the end of life.
Hospice UK believes more should be done to make sure everyone can access the care they need.
Ahead of the recent Senedd elections, we called for politicians to take action to ensure all people in Wales living with a terminal or life-shortening condition, and their carers, receive the care they need.
We revealed of the 170,000 predicted to die during this current Senedd, approximately 80 per cent will benefit from palliative and end of life care.
This is a huge amount. And this number is expected to increase significantly year-on-year.
As we look to the future, we would like to see the palliative and end of life sector reaching every child and adult with palliative care need in Wales.
How can we do this?
We can do this by tackling inequalities that lead to people missing out on vital care, such as:
- where we live;
- who we live with,
- and putting into place a plan to meet the ever-increasing need for end of life care.
To do this, we need to have a better understanding of where people are dying, so we’re able to better support essential resource allocation, and bolster service development where there is increased need for care, such as in care homes and people’s own homes.
With the new Senedd now in place, and a promise from Welsh leaders to take action to support people needing hospice, palliative and end of life care, Hospice UK is working with decision makers and care providers alike to ensure everyone has access to the right care at the end of life, particularly in the community.
Our new Future Vision Cymru programme
Today (16 June), Hospice UK launches the Future Vision Cymru programme, 'Seamless and Sustainable', bringing together professionals from across the sector to share experience and learnings to improve access to care for everyone.
We hope to enable professionals working across the system, who are supporting people towards the end of their lives, to address the challenges of the future sustainability of seamless palliative and end of life care in the community.
This will take part through a series of virtual facilitated conversations to evaluate the current challenges and work towards whole system solutions. Crucially, at every point, we will be informed by the lived experience of people accessing care in Wales.
We hope that 'Seamless and Sustainable' will inform the national programme for end of life care, bringing together partners and colleagues from across Wales to share existing models of seamless community care to explore possible ‘solutions’ for the future.
Catrin Edwards, (former) Hospice UK Policy and Advocacy Manager in Wales said:
“During the pandemic, we witnessed hospice and end of life care staff going above and beyond to provide care to more people in their communities. Our research shows that we have an opportunity to support people to talk more openly about what it is they want from their care.
"The short-term, emergency response we saw during the pandemic needs to lead to longer-term, systemic change so that people can have the best experience of quality palliative and end of life care, regardless of setting.
"To meet projected future demand, and preference, for end of life care in the community, it is estimated that capacity will need to double by 2040.
"To do this, we need to urgently increase the capacity of community and district nurses, and utilise the expertise of specialist palliative care professionals so that we can reach more people with the care they need, where they need it and when they need it most.
"Hospice UK is leading the way in Wales by bringing the sector together to launch Seamless and Sustainable, helping to vision the future of palliative and end of life care in Wales, which will be informed by people's lived experience, to ensure that everyone has access to the community end of life care they need."
Anyone who wants to know more about the programme can email Matthew Brindley for further details.
