Palliative Care

(asked on 6th July 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to widen the availability of the most effective pain relief techniques for dying patients.


Answered by
 Portrait
Ben Gummer
This question was answered on 9th July 2015

We are committed to ensuring that everyone at the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care that is personalised to their needs, including the management of symptoms such as pain. The new approach to care at the end of life that we introduced last year is based on five priorities for care of the dying person, which explicitly state the importance of looking after people’s physical needs, including pain symptoms, as well as their spiritual, psychological, social, cultural and religious needs. All staff and organisations involved in providing end of life care are responsible for ensuring the care they deliver is based on the priorities.

In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard on End of Life Care for Adults sets out best practice on the care and treatment of adults at the end of life. It provides specific, concise quality statements and measures to provide the public, health and social care professionals, commissioners and service providers with definitions of high-quality care.

Quality Statement 4 of the Standard is that “People approaching the end of life have their physical and specific psychological needs safely, effectively and appropriately met at any time of day or night, including access to medicines and equipment.”

Specific NICE clinical guidelines on the use of opioids for pain relief and the management of pain symptoms in a range of specific conditions also set out best practice and support clinicians in making clinical decisions and planning and delivering individualised care to people at the end of life.

Reticulating Splines