Overview
- Researchers estimate about 170,000 people each year die in pain, distress or without vital support, with unmet need projected to surpass 212,000 by 2050 without action.
- The analysis, led by King’s College London and Hull York Medical School with contributions from the University of Edinburgh, was funded by Marie Curie and is the first major UK assessment in more than a decade.
- Marie Curie calls for guaranteed round-the-clock community services, specialist telephone advice with access to essential medicines, and compulsory end-of-life training for clinicians and emergency staff.
- The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledges unacceptable gaps and cites a £125 million hospice investment alongside a forthcoming Modern Service Framework intended to expand 24/7 support.
- Accounts from bereaved families describe distressing out-of-hours failures to secure hospice beds or effective symptom control, illustrating how service gaps translate into suffering.