Is there equity in Out of Hours Services for Palliative patients in the community setting - Essay Example

of an area, age of the patient, whether the patient has a primary diagnosis of cancer versus non cancer, whether the area is one of high social deprivation and if there are local trust financial constraints which necessarily have an impact on the services available. Equity in palliative care is a major issue facing England. This paper shall explore the various reasons to the equal or unequal access to palliative services which might be dependent on geography and road infrastructure of an area, age of the patient, whether the patient has a primary diagnosis of cancer versus non cancer, whether the area is one of high social deprivation and/or if there are local trust financial constraints which necessarily have an impact on the services available.

Death is never a simple matter. Yet, while hospice and palliative care attention to end-of-life (EOL) care has benefited the general population, people with unequal palliative healthcare access and their families have not benefited from the same extent of end-of-life attention. Modern medical and nursing care have contributed to lengthening the life span of people with unequal access to palliative services because of geography and road infrastructure of the area, age of the patient, patient’s primary diagnosis of cancer or non cancer and the area of high social deprivation and low financial support so that previously fatal, acute illnesses and complications from their disabilities are now managed by artificial life support measures such as dialysis, gastrostomy, nephrostomy, or tracheotomy.

As life expectancy lengthens for this special population, they ultimately face the same chronic and terminal illnesses as the general population and, consequently, the same decisions exist. Unfortunately, however, because of cognitive impairment frequently associated with people having various issues with palliative care access and individuals, family members must often serve as their proxies in EOL care decision making. Together