by Professor Katherine Sleeman, Politics Home
Palliative care is care that improves the quality of life for people living with advanced illnesses.
As a palliative care doctor, I work within a multi-professional team, and our job – collectively – is to alleviate not only the physical symptoms that can be experienced by people with advanced illness (such as pain and breathlessness) but also the psychological, social, and spiritual concerns. Palliative care has been described as ‘radical autonomy’. It is intrinsically person-centred and focuses on what matters most to the individual.
Over the past decade, a large body of research has shown – put simply – that palliative care works. Palliative care improves symptoms and quality of life for patients, reduces reliance on acute hospital care near the end of life, enables people to die in their own homes, and improves wellbeing for carers, including into bereavement.
These studies also show that palliative care works best when provided early and collaboratively, alongside other types of medical care and treatment. In my clinical practice I see patients who are likely to die within hours or days, and others who are expected to live for years. Palliative care can be thought of as providing an extra layer of support.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has shone a light on palliative and end-of-life care. But it has presented a warped view of death and dying. Listening to the second reading debate, you would be forgiven for thinking that most deaths involve great suffering. This is not the case.