Leading campaign group call for ‘real choice and real change’ on global day

5th October 2007

Leading campaign group call for ‘real choice and real change’ on global day

Leading UK campaign group, Dignity in Dying, are today calling for ‘real choice and real change’ to mark World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on October 6th.

Dignity in Dying, who champion patient choice at the end of life, are launching a campaign in Parliament calling for greater access to Palliative Care and real patient choice to be at the heart of the Government’s End of Life Care Strategy.

Speaking before the launch of the campaign, Ashley Riley, Head of Campaigns and Communications at Dignity in Dying, said:

“Today’s Global Campaign Day is an opportunity to say loud and clear that access to palliative care should not be perceived as an optional extra for the dying. It must be a basic right.

“Palliative Care must become a part of mainstream medicine and give people appropriate relief and real choice.”

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day falls after research earlier this year showed that over 50% of complaints about the NHS are about end-of-life care.

Riley continued, “We know that 57% of people would prefer to die at home but only 20% of people do and that number is decreasing. Only 13% of people want to die in hospital but 58% spend their last days on a hospital ward.”

“Today must be a wake up call for the government. The Hospice and Palliative Care we have in the UK today is some of the best in the world. More must be done to ensure it is available to all those who want it.

“Only then, can we really say and believe that patient choice is central to end-of-life care in Britain today.”

A full copy of the Dignity in Dying briefing, Palliative Care, Fact not Fiction, is available upon request.

-Ends-

Notes to editor

About Dignity in Dying
Dignity in Dying is the leading organisation in the UK that advocates assisted dying for terminally ill patients.
The organisation is also the country�s leading provider in information on end-of-life issues.
Dignity in Dying has over 100,000 supporters and receives its funding entirely from donations from the public.
Opinion polls consistently show that at least 80% of the UK population support a change in the law on assisted dying.
An interview with Ashley Riley is available to download at <https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/aboutus/ >.

Media contacts
For all media enquiries, please contact Jessica Tomlin on 020 7479 7736 or 07725 433025 or on Jessica.Tomlin@dignityindying.org.uk