£286m to improve end-of-life care

The Government launched a new multi-million pound strategy today to support people as they come to the end of their lives.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis announced new measures to provide better support and care to those who wish to die at home.

People will be given more control over where they die and will be encouraged to make their wishes known.

More support for carers, community nurses on call 24/7 in all areas, and better training for staff are included in the 10-year strategy for England.

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.

"We have already made £40m available to hospices to improve environments and provide greater dignity for patients, and we recently invested £4.5m to help build a Marie Curie state of the art hospice in the West Midlands.

"Now this increased funding will continue momentum for improvement and help make sure that everyone gets access to high quality palliative care and has choice about where that care takes place."

He said the Government was putting £286m into the project over the next three years but complained that some media were refusing to run the story because it was "too depressing for their viewers and listeners".