Latest Campaign

With a new government coming into power, we needed to send a message: too many people are missing out on the support they need during some of the most difficult times in their lives.

The letter, signed by 4,500 of you, urged the Government to prioritise changes to end-of-life care and bereavement support.

We highlighted:

• The funding issues the sector faces, as hospices only receive a third of the funding they need.
• The increasing demand for palliative care, due to increase by 55% by 2030.
• The lack of bereavement support, with 70% of people unable to access the support they would have wanted after someone close to them died.

We have been building relationships with the new Government and MPs to call for improvements in palliative and end-of-life care (PEoLC).

We recently met with the Care Minister Stephen Kinnock MP, to discuss the urgent need for change. We've also delivered training to MPs and their staff on how to support their constituents through a bereavement. 

And together with Marie Curie and Hospice UK, we're coordinating the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hospice and End of Life Care, a cross-party group of MPs and Lords with a shared interest in the area.

In recent months, assisted dying has been at the forefront of the headlines and has encouraged discussions around the importance of palliative care. We are neither for nor against assisted dying, but we have given evidence to the parliamentary committee examining the bill from Kim Leadbeater MP.

Our Chief Executive, James Sanderson, has been appointed to the Commission on Palliative and End-of-Life Care, which was set up following the vote on the bill. The Commission will make recommendations to the Government on how to improve palliative care.

We’ve also been setting out what we want to see from the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for the NHS and the Government budgets in the Spending Review.

We want people to have more choice in their care at the end of life. This would involve offering more support within hospitals, improving referrals to the community and increasing use of virtual wards, alongside our hospice services.

The Employment Rights Bill currently being debated in Parliament would introduce a new right to a week of unpaid bereavement leave for all employees. While we welcome this, we believe grieving people need more. We are calling for two weeks of paid bereavement leave for all employees, as well as other measures such as requiring employers to have a bereavement policy. We will be continuing to follow the Bill and calling on the Government to provide vital support for bereaved employees and help their employers better navigate grief in the workplace.

Read our joint submission with the National Bereavement Alliance, which provides further detail on all of the amendments we are calling for in the Bill.

• Email your local MP our 'Supporting your constituents through bereavement' leaflet (download below). You can find your MP’s contact details by entering your postcode at theyworkforyou.com

• Share your own experiences with us to inform our work and future campaigns by emailing us at campaigns@sueryder.org
• Talk to your friends and family about the importance of end-of-life care or bereavement support – and how the UK government must make it a priority.

These are just a few examples of how you can get involved. Sign up to hear more about our campaigns, and we will let you know when we need you to act.