Palliative Care

Lord Judd Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2015 Grand Committee

[Lord Judd (Lab)]

My Lords, I am glad to be able to thank the noble Lord for introducing this debate and giving us the opportunity of a pre-run to the Second Reading debate tomorrow. With all his experience, it has been great to hear from him. Having said that, I should give a word of explanation for why I will not be in the House tomorrow. Paradoxically, the reason is that after several years, tomorrow I will complete my service as president of Hospice at Home West Cumbria. Most unfortunately, our annual general meeting is to be held at exactly the same time as the debate, and of course not only am I expected to preside at that meeting, I want to do so.

What have I learnt from my years as president? They have been fascinating, cheering and, while very challenging, deeply reassuring. One thing I have learnt is that death, a safe and secure death, is very much the responsibility of us all; it cannot be delegated to anyone. We all have our part to play in creating an atmosphere of support for the feelings and morale of everyone concerned. That covers the staff, the volunteers, the supporters and the wider public. What is great about the Hospice at Home charity in West Cumbria is that the staff are all volunteers who work way beyond what could be expected from them in a contract. But I have also learnt that the volunteers are determined to be professionals. They want to maintain the voluntary spirit, but they want all the time to train and improve so that they can make the best possible contribution. Given the opportunity, members of the public love to feel a sense of responsibility. They want to feel that the hospice is their hospice: it belongs to them. The one point I wanted to get over is that this movement depends upon an awful lot of people.

It also depends upon a dynamic working relationship between the hospice and the health service. There has to be a great deal of flexibility and vision. I hope that a message can go out from the leadership of the health service that this is a good thing because it helps the health service to do its job properly. We have had very good experiences of this in West Cumbria and I want to commend it to the hospice movement throughout the country. It also helps to ensure that people really are striving for the best standards in palliative care. About the care, commitment and love there is no doubt, but some careful training and preparation is needed for palliative care, and one wants to make sure that it is happening all the time and that it is available to all the volunteers so that they can do their work properly. From that standpoint, I endorse what the noble Lord said about it being essentially a community affair. Both the community and the cared for can derive great joy and benefit from that spirit.