Dignity in Dying welcome ‘Dying for Change’ report

Dignity
in Dying has welcomed a new report, ‘Dying for Change’, which sets out ideas on
how to improve people’s experiences of the end of life.

Commenting
on the report Dignity in Dying Chief Executive Sarah Wootton said:

“It
is well-established that 60% of the UK population want to die at home, but for
the vast majority this does not happen – in fact, 60% of us die in hospitals.
Dignity in Dying welcomes that the Dying for Change report seeks to address
this problem by setting out ideas for how we can better plan our end of life,
and deliver better care, both to dying people and their loved ones.

“The
report rightly acknowledges that not only are we living longer, we are also
taking longer to die. As a result advance care planning is key, alongside the
development of community-based, personalised care advocated in the report.
Dignity in Dying’s partner charity Compassion in Dying provides free Advance
Decisions to the public, and free Advance Decision Toolkits to health professionals who want to
learn more about patient decision making at the end of life. An Advance
Decision is a document that allows an individual to set out their wishes
for medical treatment in advance, and comes into effect if a person loses
mental capacity. We recommend that anyone who wants to know that their medical
treatment wishes will be respected at the end of life should make an Advance
Decisions.”

Notes

The
Dying for Change report was produced by Demos (www.demos.co.uk)
and commissioned by Help the Hospices (www.helpthehospices.org.uk)

Advance Decisions are now available free of charge from Dignity in
Dying’s partner charity. Visit www.compassionindying.org.ukto download a free Advance Decision or call 020 7479 7731 for more information.

About Dignity in Dying:

· Dignity
in Dying campaigns for greater choice, control and access to services at the
end of life. It advocates providing terminally ill adults with the option of an
assisted death, within strict legal safeguards, and for universal access to
high quality end-of-life care.

· Dignity
in Dying has over 25,000 supporters and receives its funding entirely from
donations from the public.

· The
British Social Attitudes Survey 2010 found that 92% of non-religious and 71% of
religious people support assisted dying. This relates to overall support
of 82%.

Media
Contacts:

For all media enquiries, please
contact Jo Cartwright on 020 7479 7737 / 07725433025 or at jo.cartwright@dignityindying.org.uk.