Plan to finally 'transform' end-of-life care for 100,000

Doctors, charities and MPs back blueprint to overhaul palliative care

- Denis Campbell Jessica Elgot Aletha Adu

MPs, doctors and charities have drawn up a blueprint to deliver an "unprecedented transformation" of care for 100,000 people a year in the final stages of life. After parliament's historic vote on Friday in favour of legalising assisted dying in England and Wales, a commission on palliative care has been set up to help improve end-of-life treatment whether or not someone opts for an assisted death.

The Guardian has seen the details of its ambition that every dying person gets high-quality medical and emotional support.

The former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown, who made a powerful intervention opposing assisted dying, is understood to support the plan.

The creation of the commission comes as experts warn that ramping up end of life care and starting to offer assisted dying will pose massive challenges for the NHS. There is uncertainty over where such services will be provided, which staff will be involved and how much it will cost.

Palliative care is now provided by a combination of the NHS, hospices and charities such as Marie Curie but it is subject to what critics say is a cruel postcode lottery. At least 100,000 people a year are estimated to miss out on such care, meaning they are denied a dignified death and can suffer avoidable pain, with loved ones left in distress.

Under the terms of reference of the commission, which is being created by the Labour MP Rachael Maskell, dying people - children as well as adults - would receive ongoing "holistic" support with all of their needs from the moment they are diagnosed with an incurable illness.