Out of hours care for people with a terminal illness (No. 2)

That this House notes with concern evidence from Marie Curie’s latest Better End of Life Report published in November 2022, which shows significant gaps in out-of-hours services in the community for people at the end of life and their carers, and the link between not being able to access services at home during nights and weekends and emergency department attendances during these periods; recognises that each year around 780,000 emergency out-of-hours visits to A&E occur for people approaching the end of life and that 24/7 palliative care telephone advice lines can play a significant role in meeting the need for out-of-hours support, thereby reducing ambulance use, A&E attendance and hospital admissions; commends The Integrated Mersey Palliative Care Team (IMPaCT) designated 24/7 palliative care advice line which means that rather than having to ring 999, a single contact number connects people with a terminal illness and their carers to professionals with specialist palliative care expertise who can provide the advice they need on managing symptoms, controlling pain, access to medicines and support at home at the time when it is needed; and notes that 69 per cent of UK areas surveyed do not consistently provide a designated 24/7 palliative care advice line for terminally ill people and their carers and, of these, over one in four areas surveyed had no such advice line at all.