RCN comments on VOICES survey on end of life care

Published: 29 November 2012

For immediate release: Thursday 29 November 2012

Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the RCN said:

“Good quality, dignified care at the end of a person’s life is one of the crucial things which any health service offers. Many people can have their pain relieved and symptoms reduced, regardless of whether they die at home, in a hospital or at a hospice, and we know that their families often express gratitude that this has been possible.

“However, for this to happen, we need trusts to ensure that they have fully trained community nurses available out of hours. By making such staff available, the NHS should be able to prevent the situations which we know are particularly distressing to patients and families – when a dying person is rushed to hospital in the middle of the night. For every person, there is only one chance to get this right, and the government is right to focus on the wide variation which exists at the moment.”

Ends

Notes for Editors

1. For further information, please contact the RCN Media Office on 020 7647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/newsevents/media
2. The 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