Death is certain but access to quality palliative care is not, according to MPs. Daniel Allen reports

Deep in the recent Commons health committee report on palliative care is a telling detail that says much about the obstacles faced by terminally ill people. It comes in a section on communication, which, the report says, is a ‘major problem’ in palliative care. It quotes from a study by a Marie Curie hospice which found that in the course of a two and half year illness, the ‘average’ cancer patient encountered 32 doctors before seeing a specialist palliative care professional.