Palliative care: 'My dad should not have been expected to die in office hours'

A pistillate who struggled to entree night-time attraction for her dying begetter has told the BBC helium "shouldn't person been expected to dice successful bureau hours".

Tracey Bennett, 54, said she felt "completely lost" erstwhile her begetter Michael needed assistance astatine 22:00.

Almost 70% of the UK does not person a accordant 24-hour helpline for the terminally ill, probe suggests.

And 27% of these areas bash not person a designated telephone line, the survey funded by Marie Curie found.

Ruth Driscoll, from the charity, said the probe painted "a bleak representation of out-of-hours attraction successful galore areas of the UK".

Early successful 2021, Mrs Bennett, from Doncaster, moved successful with her dad, 76-year-old Michael Woodward, to attraction for him successful the past stages of his cancer.

One nighttime helium had a fall. Mrs Bennett was capable to assistance him backmost up but turned to the section NHS palliative attraction phoneline for help, lone to find it closed.

Although she did not consciousness her begetter should beryllium successful a hospital, she called 999 arsenic she felt she had no-one other to crook to. He died successful the aboriginal hours of the adjacent morning.

"In his hr of request I consciousness I fto my dada down," she said. "He shouldn't person been expected to dice successful bureau hours."

Mrs Bennett added: "My dad's unwellness turned truthful rapidly - a fewer days earlier helium passed distant helium was up and about, helium was adjacent capable to locomotion to the chemist.

"If I'd known however abruptly helium would decline, I would person had clip to hole help. But we were caught off-guard and didn't cognize wherever to turn."

Researchers from King's College London, the University of Hull, and University of Cambridge, recovered that "out-of-hours palliative attraction is presently inadequate and fragmented".

Marie Curie wants each country of the UK to person a dedicated palliative phoneline, staffed 24 hours a time by a specially trained caregiver oregon doctor.

Rosie Carter, 67, a retired caregiver from Liverpool, said entree to a 24-hour helpline has transformed her prime of life, adjacent arsenic she receives end-of-life attraction aft her bosom crab dispersed to different parts of her body.

Previously, erstwhile her symptom worsened during the summer, she had to marque repeated trips to A&E.

She said: "By the 3rd clip I went to A&E I couldn't adjacent question by taxi due to the fact that I couldn't locomotion that far. I had to spell successful an ambulance." She was discharged from infirmary but her symptoms were not relieved.

Miss Carter yet contacted the Impact service, a "one-stop shop" for palliative attraction successful Liverpool.

The integrated work is made up of NHS doctors, specializer nurses and therapists, and patients tin self-refer to the hub via a 24-hour phoneline.

It was acceptable up by Marie Curie, the Woodlands Hospice and the NHS successful 2021 and they accidental it is an illustration of champion practice.

The hub has helped trim exigency infirmary trips for end-of-life patients successful Liverpool by 44%, easing unit connected A&E.

Miss Carter said she wished she had called the fig sooner. An occupational therapist and a physiotherapist were sent to her location and they besides arranged stronger symptom medication. She is present surviving comfortably astatine home.

"It has meant the satellite to me," she said. "I mean, my crab is not curable… I'm not funny successful the quantity of beingness I've got left, conscionable the prime of beingness that I person makes each the quality successful the world."

Lead researcher Prof Katherine Sleeman, from King's College, said: "Because we cognize that request for palliative and end-of-life attraction volition summation implicit the adjacent decade, it is indispensable that the gaps successful services retired of hours are addressed."

The Department for Health and Social Care said: "As portion of the Health and Care Act 2022, we added palliative attraction services to the database of services that indispensable beryllium provided successful immoderate section country to guarantee a much accordant nationalist approach.

"NHS England has published statutory guidance to enactment the commissioning of these captious services, referencing the request to supply enactment connected evenings and weekends."