Last week our Joint CEO and Clinical Director, Becca Trower, was delighted to speak on the panel at the London Assembly Health Committee Meeting about end of life care in London.
Joining Becca on the panel were Dr Libby Sallnow and Ruth Driscoll, both from Marie Curie, and Dr Armita Jamali from The Royal Marsden and Royal Brompton Hospitals.
Becca answered questions from the Health Committee and spoke with transparency and passion about the biggest challenges currently facing St Raphael’s and hospice care, the hospice funding crisis, and the importance of collaboration with other end of life healthcare providers.
About the current frustrations around end of life care provision Becca shared:
“The only access our community have to palliative care, support and advice at the weekend is through the Hospice. Nothing is available through the NHS and that is one of our frustrations – there needs to be some holding to account for that.”
Talking about the biggest challenges facing end of life care, she said:
“If we are going to address these issues and raise awareness [of the biggest challenges facing end of life care] it is important that hospices are recognised, not just as a small part of the puzzle. They are actually a really big part because of the education we provide and the close working we have with all community providers in both health care and social care.”
We are proud to have had St Raphael’s representing London hospices at this significant meeting, amplifying the vital message that change is needed to protect hospice care for the future.
The above London Assembly Committee meeting is available to watch here.