Lords discuss review of funding for palliative care
from Religion Media Centre:
As MPs prepare to vote on assisted dying, Lord Farmer has introduced a debate in the Lords on improving palliative care in hospices, asking the government if they will review the way they are funded.
At present, they receive around a third of their funding from government, with the rest (over £1bn a year) raised by hospices themselves, but this year they face an estimated shortfall of £60m.
Lord Farmer, associated with St Helen’s Bishopsgate, told the Lords that the basis of palliative care is the intrinsic dignity and worth of human beings, but this value is undermined in assisted suicide and euthanasia, which “turn a somebody into a nobody”.
The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullaly, asked how parliament could consider assisted dying if not enough money is given to hospices and palliative care, so that people dying receive the best care.
The Health Minister Baroness Merron said NHS England had met a government minister to discuss the provision of such services. She said “irrespective of whether the law changes on this matter, we will and must continue to work towards providing high-quality, compassionate palliative and end-of-life care for every person who needs it”.
Hansard report here.