Northern Ireland facing 'Tsunami of need' for palliative care in next 25 years as numbers rise
The need for end of life care in Northern Ireland is expected to rise by almost a third over the next 25 years.
A report by the charity Marie Curie shows Northern Ireland is facing the highest demand for palliative care in the UK by 2048.
Demand here is expected to rise by 32%.
The figures by Marie Curie show that there will be roughly 20,433 people in Northern Ireland requiring palliative care in 2048, compared to 15,443 currently.
Due to the expected rise the charity says there is an urgent need to improve and grow support for people at the end of their life before it is too late.
Demand for palliative care is expected to rise across the UK, as well and currently one in four people die without the care or support they need at the end of their life.
The charity's figures reveal over the next 25 years those needing palliative across the UK will incresase by nearly 150,000 to over 730,000.
Joan McEwan, Marie Curie’s Associate Director for Policy and Public Affairs in Northern Ireland, said:
“We are not just talking about more people with terminal cancer needing palliative care in the next 25 years.
"People with illnesses which can be terminal include Alzheimer’s (and other forms of dementia), motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s, and heart diseases and they all face an increasing need for expert palliative care. And as our population is living longer, as we age our needs are also becoming more complex as we contract one or more long-term conditions.
“Northern Ireland is already struggling right now to meet the demand for care from people who are terminally ill, and with the huge pressures on our system, staff and finances, this is only going to get worse.
"Adding in this predicted increase means we’re facing a tsunami of need without the resources to deal with it.
"There are basic economic factors that Northern Ireland is constrained by as well – whilst demand for care is increasing here, the size of our working age population is expected to decrease, so there will be less people in our workforce looking after more chronically ill patients.
"The numbers just don’t stack up.”
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