Socio-economic Position and Access to Specialist Palliative Care : Evidence from the UK

French, Maddy (2022) Socio-economic Position and Access to Specialist Palliative Care : Evidence from the UK. In: Ethical Challenges for Healthcare Practices at the End of Life : Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Springer, Cham, pp. 185-201. ISBN 9783030831851

Abstract

Ensuring equitable access to care between socio-economic groups is an ambition shared by many health-care providers in the UK, including those providing specialist Palliative care. Although global evidence suggests socio-economic disadvantage is associated with lower odds of receiving specialist Palliative care, evidence from the UK is more uncertain. This chapter explores what is already known about the relationship between access to specialist Palliative care and socio-economic position in the UK, considering the benefits of using the ‘candidacy’ model of access to understand this phenomenon. The chapter concludes with a call for more evidence about how health-care professionals assess Palliative care needs of patients and families who are socio-economically disadvantaged in the UK and how this interacts with other factors to generate or restrict access.