The significant rise in deaths, including in people’s own homes, during the COVID-19 pandemic placed huge pressure on the health and care system and led to incidences of poor care.
The sheer volume of death, alongside measures to reduce the spread of infection, resulted in extreme pressure on now exhausted health and care workers and unpaid carers.
With more people expected to die in 2031 than in 2020, this should be seen as a warning sign and a message to all decision makers that palliative and end of life care, and in particular high-quality out of hours community services, needs to be prioritised.
Evidence to the APPG painted a distressing picture of the traumatic deaths that took place during the pandemic and the lasting impacts on health and care staff and grieving loved ones.
