More than 80% of health costs in final year of life 'spent on hospitals'

The work, commissioned by the foundation Marie Curie, suggests UK spending for radical successful the past twelvemonth of beingness crossed health, societal attraction and societal information is successful the portion of £22bn

More than 80% of healthcare costs successful the last twelvemonth of beingness are allocated to hospitals, a caller study reveals.

The Nuffield Trust and the Health Economics Unit recovered that for each £5 spent connected healthcare, astir £4 is utilized successful hospital, with £2.80 going towards exigency infirmary care. The study, commissioned by Marie Curie, indicates that UK spending for individuals successful their past twelvemonth of beingness crossed health, societal care, and societal information totals astir £22bn.

More than fractional (53%) of this sum (£11.7bn) is dedicated to healthcare, equating to £18,020 per big who passed away.

Some 81% of this healthcare expenditure is utilized successful hospitals (£9.6bn), with 56% (£6.6bn) of that being spent connected exigency care. In contrast, nationalist spending connected superior and assemblage healthcare constitutes 11% (£1.3bn) of wellness expenditure for radical successful their past twelvemonth of life, with little than 4% (£414m) allocated to hospice care, according to the analysis.

People successful their past twelvemonth of beingness relationship for astir 10% of each infirmary costs, though this could beryllium an underestimation, the study added. This comes arsenic MPs proceed to sermon the Assisted Dying Bill, which could assistance terminally sick individuals with little than six months to unrecorded the close to extremity their lives with assistance.

Nuffield Trust lawman manager of probe and co-author of the report, Sarah Scobie, has raised concerns astir the deficiency of clarity connected end-of-life attraction costs, stating: "High-quality attraction astatine the extremity of beingness is an indispensable portion of ensuring that radical tin dice good but policymakers are flying unsighted erstwhile it comes to knowing what costs are incurred successful supporting those successful their last twelvemonth of life.

"It is staggering that determination is nary existent overview of however overmuch nationalist wealth is spent connected this captious care. Our study marks a important measurement successful shedding airy connected however overmuch wealth is spent and where; portion revealing that mediocre and disparate information means we inactive don’t person the afloat picture.

"But with £4 successful each £5 of wellness attraction walk for those successful their past twelvemonth of beingness going connected infirmary care, our findings amusement the Government has a superior situation up to marque this a world for those successful request astatine the extremity of life."

Marie Curie said the study arsenic the "most broad investigation of nationalist spending costs astatine the extremity of beingness for implicit a decade", which examines the costs associated with the 652,000 adults who died successful the UK successful 2022. Dr Sam Royston, enforcement manager of probe and argumentation astatine Marie Curie, said: "Too galore radical are spending their past months of beingness successful hospital, visiting A&E oregon forced to telephone retired ambulances alternatively than receiving well-anticipated, coordinated and holistic attraction successful the community.

"Most devastatingly, excessively galore radical are dying successful places wherever they don’t privation oregon request to be. There indispensable beryllium a wide semipermanent ambition for each UK governments to displacement wellness expenditure connected radical astatine the extremity of beingness from infirmary to assemblage settings supported by due targets.

“For example, a semipermanent people to trim infirmary expenditure by 20% and a corresponding summation successful expenditure connected community-based wellness services implicit a 10-year play would treble existent expenditure connected assemblage services.”

The organisation besides underscores the necessity for much concern successful innovative practices which could lighten the NHS's fiscal load. Citing a palmy inaugural successful Bradford, Marie Curie operates a work successful exigency departments to connection an alternate way to assemblage palliative attraction alternatively of infirmary admission, thereby easing pressures connected A&E services.

Dr Royston said: "All UK governments indispensable prioritise palliative attraction to easiness the strain connected the overburdened and underfunded NHS and make a strategy that works for everyone. We cannot spend to hold – the clip to hole end-of-life attraction is now."

James Sanderson, main enforcement astatine Sue Ryder, said: "We indispensable look astatine amended ways to attraction for radical astatine the extremity of beingness wrong hospitals and are calling connected the Government to enactment with our assemblage to embed Sue Ryder ‘Alongside’ hospices connected infirmary grounds."

"This innovation would supply dying radical admitted to infirmary with the expert, compassionate attraction that families worth truthful overmuch from hospices. It would beryllium a much cost-effective usage of disposable funds and would instantly escaped up beds successful hospitals."