Compassion in Dying welcomes the aims of the Access to Palliative Care Bill

Compassion in Dying welcomes the aims of the Access to Palliative Care Bill, which contains a number of provisions that would help patients who are already in receipt of palliative care or who are nearing the end of life. We welcome the debate and consideration of its provisions.

We have questions about whether the aims of the Bill would be better served by a more comprehensive approach that would address these issues in alignment with existing frameworks for the delivery of end-of-life care.

We also believe that the provision of end-of-life care is hampered by a lack of support and information being provided to patients early in their illness and before a terminal diagnosis. This would go a long way towards preparing people for exercising their choices at the end of life and lead to more people having the “good death” that they want.

Compassion in Dying appreciates the broad principles of the Bill. We believe, however, that a more in-depth review of end-of-life care that addresses the issues below would best ensure improved care for dying people.