End of life care must be a priority across the health sector - RCN
Published: 27 January 2010
EMBARGO: 00:01 Wednesday 27th January 2010
End of life care must be a priority across the health sector - RCN
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) welcomed the report Delivering better care at end of life, published today by the King’s Fund. The report echoes calls from the RCN to provide ongoing training and education for staff involved in end-of-life care in order to provide a high quality service across acute and community settings.
Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the RCN said:
“Nurses play a vital role in end-of-life care, from providing symptom control, care and dignity for patients to helping loved ones through their bereavement. It is essential that wherever people die, staff are well trained and have the time to care. For example, ambulance staff and nurses working in Accident and Emergency should be able to provide sensitive, high quality care and work to the same principles offered by nurses in hospices.
“This report rightly shows that having staff with the right level of expertise and training are invaluable to individuals, families and communities. The priority must now be to give staff the time and training needed to ensure that every patient receives the highest possible standard of care.”
Notes to editors
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Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.