UK is the very best place globally to die, based upon end-of-life care index

Integration of palliative care in to NHS and effective hospice movements amid reasons behind UK positioning first in research of 80 countries around the world

 

Great Britain is the number one place around the world in which to die, according to a study doing a comparison of end-of-life care in 80 countries around the world.

 

 

The integration of palliative care in to the NHS, a solid hospice movement predominantly financed via the charity field, specialized staff and even deep community engagement are included in the top reasons reported by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

 

The upper echelons of the index are taken over by wealthy Eu, Asia-Pacific and even north American regions. Australia comes in second, New Zealand third and then Ireland and Belgium finalize the superior five.

 

Annie Pannelay, of EIU health care, expressed: “A strong marker in our index is the availability of professional palliative care workers and that is where the United kingdom scores particularly well. The United Kingdom carries a long background of giving treatment in palliative health care. The next seriously powerful marker is the way in which the destinations do have a strategy with regard to palliative health care. This means they are on the dynamic of measuring improvement and enhancing.”

 

The United States comes in ninth in the index. Taiwan is the top rated Asian country, placing sixth, whilst India and China rank 67th and 71st respectively. Their performances were described as concerning with their colossal populations, with China of particular matter considering “the result of the one-child policy, quite often leaving individuals tending to two parents and four grandparents, can result in even more need for outside resources to grant support”.

 

Among the locations that fare very well despite being much less prosperous and having much less well evolved health care systems are Mongolia and also Panama, 28th and 31st on the index respectively. Mongolia’s performance was due to one particular medical doctor that has enticed a boost in palliative treatment.

 

Despite the UK’s leading ranking, the study’s writers say it is “still not delivering satisfactory services for each and every resident”. They emphasize an investigation by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman concerning problems about end-of-life care and attention, shared in May, that raised issues which includes inadequate symptom control, undesirable communication and planning, failures to respond to the needs of the dying, insufficient out-of-hours services along with delays in prognosis and additionally referrals for treatment.

 

Pannelay exclaimed: “There are a few considerations there is however a strategy to improve as well as the solitary fact that there is a parliamentary report on that and also it’s accessible in public means a great deal - that means the UK is working on it.”

 

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Great Britain acquired the highest score in the indicator gauging economic burden to sufferers, showing that 80% to 100% of end-of-life health care services are paid for by sources apart from the patient, much of it from charitable funding.

 

The writers praise the Dying Matters Coalition setup by the National Council for Palliative Care charity in britain to stimulate people to converse more openly about death and make plans for the end of life.

 

The EIU affirms the UK’s resources, just like those of various other countries, will be stretched in the future by an an ageing human population and non-communicable diseases such as cancers, dementia and diabetes.

 

The writers state latest third-party research demonstrates a significant link in the use of palliative treatment and care cost savings. Regardless of evidence of the economic benefits, they highlight that only about 0.2% of the funds presented for cancer research in the united kingdom in 2010 visited study into palliative care, whilst in the US it was 1% of the National Cancer Institute’s appropriation.

 

The Quality of Death Index, commissioned by the Lien Foundation, a Singaporean philanthropic organisation, is dependant on qualitative and quantitative indicators and took in interviews exceeding 120 palliative care specialists from around the globe. 

 

The United Kingdom came top in the only previous index, produced in 2010, although that was restricted to 40 countries and the criteria has since been refined.