Charity calls for urgent action to resolve dangerous gaps in out of hours palliative care

Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end of life charity, is urgently calling on the government to make palliative and end of life care accessible 24/7 following the publication of a new report.

New research released today by Marie Curie has identified significant gaps in out of hours palliative care for people at the end of life across England.   

Freedom of Information requests submitted to all 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England revealed that only seven have a 24/7, single point of access to palliative care advice line – despite this being recommended as a minimum service requirement by NICE and the Department of Health for nearly two decades.

Aston spoke to Toby North, head of public affairs at Marie Curie.