End of life care is one of the lowest funded areas of healthcare research

Palliative and end of life care research is one of the lowest funded (ranked 44 out of 48) areas of healthcare research in the UK, despite it being an issue that affects everyone.

Marie Curie analysis of new data from the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC),   highlights that 0.21% of all non-commercial healthcare research money is spent on palliative and end of life care research^[1] - in 2018 a total of £2.56 billion was spent on non-commercial health-related research projects in the UK with £5.49 million spent on palliative and end of life care research.

End of life care research looks at how care can be improved for people with terminal illnesses, and the support offered to their loved ones while providing informal care and into bereavement. While the primary focus is how quality of life can be improved, studies in this field have suggested that better end of life experience can also extend life^[2]. 

Marie Curie – which is the largest charitable funder of end of life care research in the UK - is highlighting that the low level of funding comes at a time when the country’s population is ageing - in the next 25 years the number of people aged 85 and over is projected to almost double ^[3].

Matthew Reed, the Chief Executive at Marie Curie, said:

“How to respond to the pressures of the ageing population is the biggest challenge health and social care is facing in our country. As the population ages, millions more people will be living with one or more long-term health conditions, they will need much more support from care providers and the number of people dying each year will rise.

“With finite resources, evidence-based research is vital to improve our understanding of what works best and what matters most to people.

“On a human level, how we support people as they die is one of the most rewarding areas of research. It has the power to go beyond the clinical and improve the end of life experience for all – helping ensure that as a society we focus on what matters most to patients in their last chapter of life, and the people they leave behind.”