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Extra £25 million for hospices to ease end-of-life care

Boris Johnson unveils an additional £25 million funding for hospices in a bid to ease end-of-life care 

The funding will come from existing NHS budgets and will alleviate some pressure on hospices which receive most of their financial support from the voluntary sector.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Seeing a loved one nearing the end of their life is one of the hardest things a family will ever experience, so it’s vital that we support our fantastic and hardworking hospice staff to deliver the highest quality palliative care.

“As Prime Minister I am making sure that today our hospices and palliative care services are given a £25 million boost to alleviate the everyday pressures faced on the frontline, helping to ensure they have the resources they need, when they need them.”

Downing Street said the money would help to keep hospices open, “improve the quality of end of life care”, and ensure that people “die as comfortably as possible” – as well as easing workforce pressures.

This additional funding comes at the same time as hospices are under acute financial pressure with, for the first time, one of Britain’s hospices having to close its doors this year.

According to the Government, hospices support more than 200,000 people with terminal or life-limiting conditions every year, as well as help “tens of thousands” of family members needing bereavement support.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson said:

“This extra £25 million is extremely welcome not only for people needing hospice care and their families, but also for a society which values the lives of people with terminal or life-limiting conditions.”

“In Oregon, which has had assisted suicide since 1997, over 25% of all those who end their own lives through medically assisted suicide, list “inadequate pain control” as one of their end of life concerns. Almost 45% of people list “burden on family, friends/caregivers” as a concern.”

“Both of these problems can be greatly alleviated by effective and compassionate hospice care. If we want Britain to remain a country free from assisted suicide and euthanasia, one of the most effective things that can be done is to ensure a strong hospice system and excellent end of life care.”

Dear reader,

You may be surprised to learn that our 24-week abortion time limit is out of line with the majority of European Union countries, where the most common time limit for abortion on demand or on broad social grounds is 12 weeks gestation.

The latest guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine enables doctors to intervene to save premature babies from 22 weeks. The latest research indicates that a significant number of babies born at 22 weeks gestation can survive outside the womb, and this number increases with proactive perinatal care.

This leaves a real contradiction in British law. In one room of a hospital, doctors could be working to save a baby born alive at 23 weeks whilst, in another room of that same hospital, a doctor could perform an abortion that would end the life of a baby at the same age.

The majority of the British population support reducing the time limit. Polling has shown that 70% of British women favour a reduction in the time limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks or below.

Please click the button below to sign the petition to the Prime Minister, asking him to do everything in his power to reduce the abortion time limit.