Improving palliative care in the UK

AI Summary

A report indicates that palliative care needs are not being met in the UK, with significant disparities affecting vulnerable populations. The demand for targeted services is expected to grow without policy changes.

The UK ranked top in world comparisons of the quality of death and dying in 2010, 2015, and 2021.1 However, a 2025 report suggests that around 30% of people who died in the UK in 2023 had unmet palliative care need.2 It estimates this figure will rise by 23% by 2050 if nothing changes. Inequalities persist, especially for older people, those experiencing social deprivation, people from ethnic minorities, and those with illnesses other than cancer.345 While needs based referral to specialist palliative care services are most effective at three to six months before death,6 patients globally consistently access palliative care services too late, with a median of 18.9 days before death,7 often because of poor recognition of needs or availability of services.Specialist palliative care reduces hospital bed days, deaths in hospital, and healthcare costs,8 but it cannot work in isolation. The number of general practitioners per head of population is...