Planning for end of life isn’t easy. The one thing most of us want is the choice to die at home, surrounded by our loved ones and with the care and support we need.
Some of you may have been watching the TV series My Last Summer. It follows five terminally ill people as they talk frankly about their experiences in their final months. Watching the series has made me think about the choices I want around how and where I die – and the conversations I need to have with my loved ones.
Macmillan recently published Cancer in the UK 2014 – the first in a series of State of the Nation reports focusing on the experience and needs of people affected by cancer. The report is a real wake-up call to politicians, and health and social care professionals. And today, Macmillan has released a new report, Can we live with how we’re dying, which looks at the need for free social care at the end of life.
The report shows that despite 74% of people with cancer wanting to die at home, less than one third of us are able to. Each year that means more than 36,000 people who would have preferred to die at home die in hospital. If that trend continues, it could mean that by 2020 more than 220,000 of us will die in hospital when we would have preferred to die at home.
Why does this happen?
The reason so many of us end up dying in hospital is because we can’t get the support we need to make it possible for us to choose to die at home. Complex assessment processes, separate budgets and poor communication between health and social care systems mean delays and more of us dying on hospital wards.
If we had access to free social care more of us would be able to make a choice that suits us and know it is likely to happen. Social care support can help with everyday, practical things so we can remain at home.
I want a choice about where I die. If you want a choice too, please get involved and support Macmillan’s end of life campaign.
Get involved
If, like me, you want to help Macmillan demand better outcomes for people affected by cancer, you can sign up to be an e-campaigner and keep up-to-date with Macmillan’s campaigns on the campaigns blog.
