Health secretary launches end-of-life care strategy

The health secretary has launched a new 286 million pounds End of Life Care Strategy aimed at improving the care elderly people receive in their final years.

Alan Johnson claims this development will hopefully see more people ending their lives at home, surrounded by their families, while empowering people to make their own decisions about their care.

In particular, the ten-year scheme will hope to improve community health services, develop specialist palliative care outreach services and provide workforce training to improve the way health staff assess and cater to the needs of patients.

Commenting on these developments, Mr Johnson said: “People coming to the end of their lives and their loved ones deserve high quality, compassionate and dignified care, on their own terms. This strategy will help make that happen.”

Meanwhile, the government’s recent GP Patient Access Survey has highlighted that the majority of people are happy with the access they have to their local surgery, with 87 per cent being satisfied with their ability to get through via telephone and the same number stating they can make an appointment within 48 hours.