Policy & Campaigns

Making end of life care everybody’s business  

We campaign to make sure that every person approaching the end of life can access the care and support they need. We think this should be available regardless of the condition they have or region they live in.

We seek to extend access and remove inequalities by working with the government, civil servants and other decision-makers. We do this by producing evidence-based publications, gathering data, pressing for the full implementation of government strategies and responding to public consultations. 

We also organise meetings in parliament to keep politicians informed about the issues and, during election time, make sure that political party manifestos guarantee a better deal for those at the end of life. Our national conferences and regional events reflect and inform our current policy priorities.

How we work

Central to our work are the groups of people we bring together to discuss the issues. These include people with personal experience, professionals from health, social care, the housing sector and beyond, as well as charity representatives, academics and policy makers.

Some of our groups focus on specific conditions, for example the experiences of people with dementia, heart failure or cancer at the end of life. Other groups are thematic and look at broad topics such as older people and multiple conditions, personalisation or specialist palliative care. You can read more about our groups in the priority issues section.

As an umbrella charity, we work alongside other campaigning organisations and professional bodies who form our membership and share our goals in relation to end of life care. We listen to clinicians and service providers, and use our data collection and clinical experts to provide practical and evidence-based publications. We work across all sectors and settings to create dialogue and build relationships between people with experience of end of life care, professionals and staff, charities, independent providers and the NHS, and decision makers at every level.

We are one of the Department of Health’s Third Sector Strategic Partners and through this work closely with the DH and our partner charities to help the DH work strategically with the voluntary sector to improve health and social care in all settings. Find out more here. 

We also work closely with NHS England and the Wales Palliative Care Implementation Board to support their work implementing national strategies.

Together, we provide a strong voice on behalf of people providing and using end of life care services everywhere.