tim parkin

One thing united everyone in the assisted dying debate – the need to address the appalling underfunding of palliative and social care which inflicts so much avoidable suffering on people with terminal illnesses. I’ve written this open letter to @andyburnham because every single day at work, I see how much more dignity, comfort, meaning and joy we could enable patients to experience at the end of their life, if only palliative and oscial care weren’t so appallingly underfunded. I know it is unlikely you will ever see or read this letter, Mr Burnham. But I had to write it anyway. Because a good death – with as little suffering and loss of dignity as possible – should surely be a basic human right for us all? The underfunding of palliative care is denying too many people that right. For far too long, dying people have simply not been a government priority. You have the power to change that. As a specialist in palliative medicine, I can only hope and beg you to do so.