Hospices and Palliative Care Services

Lord Patten Excerpts

Wednesday 15th December 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Patten]

My Lords, I am very happy to follow the noble Lord, Lord Judd, who put his finger with great accuracy on the importance of localism in support for hospice movements, whether in hospitals or hospices in the community—a point also reflected by my noble friend Lord Selborne. That localism underpins much of what my noble friend Lord Bridgeman described in his speech, which was absolutely spot on.

I wish only to address the spiritual aspects of palliative care, whether in home, hospital or hospice. I guess that when in centuries past hospice-like or palliative care was given it was largely the preserve of the religious. Pain relief must have been very difficult in comparison to the spiritual solace that was doubtless always available on tap and in plenty. Today, the reverse may be the case, thanks to the great leaps forward that have been made in pain control and pain management. If it is hard to provide a hard-nosed, cost-benefit analysis of such pain relief, which I think it is, how very much harder it is to do the same for the spiritual solace given to those facing death and their families. But this spiritual dimension is vital.

While I warmly welcome the extra sums that have been found in these hardest of times by the coalition—the £40 million for hospices and the extra money for palliative care for children—as well as the review that is being undertaken, I ask my noble friend Lord Howe whether he will ensure that the needs of the dying who wish to see a representative of the British Humanist Society, an imam, a rabbi or a priest are not forgotten. That very valuable body, the Association of Hospice & Palliative Care Chaplains, does a great deal to spread good practice in the area of palliative care—it must be terribly demanding and emotionally draining work—helping both patients and their families. As more emphasis is put on dying at home, ways to enhance the good work of this network of chaplains and their colleagues in more community-based care must be developed and the spiritual dimension must not be forgotten.