Andrew Lansley: Palliative care system falling short of the mark

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has stated that the end of life care system in the UK is currently not working well enough, as he announced a further £1.8 million in funding.

The money will be made available for eight pilot sites that will collect information for the government to use in creating a per-patient funding system for palliative care services.

This is vital to ensure that services are fairly distributed and all patients can choose where they want to spend the final days of their life, Mr Lansley claims.

Speaking at a Marie Curie event, he said: "It is most important to us that both children and adults, their families and carers get the right care and support at the end of their lives"

A fair funding system will be instrumental in achieving this and supporting palliative care services, which currently have to work with little monetary support.

It will also help to alleviate the pressure placed on many people who are unable to fund care themselves because of depleting retirement funds.

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