Responding to the Marie Curie report into rising end-of-life attendances in A+E, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said:

“This is what happens when thousands of community and district nursing roles are cut, with too few now available to provide timely, dignified care to those at the end of life.  Such vulnerable and unwell people deserve to be treated close to home but instead are forced to turn to overcrowded and understaffed A&Es where they could spend their final hours in a corridor. This should be a source of shame and highlights fundamental flaws in the system that the government must address.

“The report rightly points out that investment in the community workforce, specifically expert district nurses, is key to turning this around, and so ministers must act urgently act to invest and grow workforce numbers. Only then will those at the end of their lives receive the bespoke and dignified care they deserve."

Ends

Notes to editors

A Nuffield Trust report in 2025 revealed that the district nursing workforce had dropped by 43% between 2009/10 and 2023/24.