An independent Palliative Care Funding Review released today recommends to the Government the introduction of the first ever palliative care funding structure in England, which could save the NHS up to £180 million per year and result in better care for patients at the end of life.

The Review found that of the 457,000 people each year who need palliative care, around 92,000 are not being reached.

As well as cutting NHS costs, the Review if implemented could prevent as many as 60,000 hospital deaths by 2021 and ensure the provision of palliative care services to everyone who needs it.

Commissioned by the health secretary Andrew Lansley in July 2010, the Review was asked to develop a per-patient funding mechanism for palliative care.

Thomas Hughes-Hallett, chair of the review and chief executive of Marie Curie Cancer Care, commented:

“No other country in the world has introduced such a system for both adults and children, so the step is both a bold and necessary one.

Basing the funding model on a needs classification system would ensure that the funding follows the patient in a fair and transparent way, as the level of funding provided to a service would be determined by the complexity and level of need of the patients.”

Professor Sir Alan Craft, advisor to the Review, said:

“The Government must act on the recommendations contained in the review because evidence shows us that incentivising the provision of palliative care leads to better outcomes for patients, supports choice and is the most cost effective way of using NHS resources. We need to remove the barriers within the current system to enable this to happen.”

More information on the Palliative Care Funding Review is available here