![Cancer charity say end-of-life care must become a healthcare priority](https://chadlaw.dnsupdate.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-598064818-724x388.jpg)
13
Aug 2019
Cancer charity say end-of-life care must become a healthcare priority
New research conducted by Macmillan Cancer Support and the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry has highlighted the need for communication and planning around end-of-life care.
The research found that 75 per cent of cancer patients who died in Northern Ireland in 2015 were admitted to an A&E department at least once during the last year of their lives.
Following the report, head of service at Macmillan Cancer Support, Heather Monteverde, stressed that the very specialist care needed by cancer patients could not be provided by emergency departments.
She went on to say that a patient finding out that they have cancer in an emergency department would not have the privacy or support needed from a specialist nurse.
“An emergency department is not the right environment for (the) patient or the staff who want to deliver very specialist care.
“Terminally ill patients can’t always choose where and when they will require emergency attention. But the timing and location of their end-of-life care is critical.”
Ms Monteverde added that many patients arrive at the emergency department because “they just don’t know where else to go. They haven’t had the information properly communicated to them..
“Then something goes wrong and nothing is written down, there is no plan in place, and there is a feeing of what happens next?”
The NI Cancer Registry’s Dr Anna Gavin, said “People are more likely to talk about cancer now, so as this report shows, there is a real need for more services for people who are in their last year of life.”
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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