Palliative Care in the UK
Understanding palliative care - and why Liverpool's situation is so serious.
Palliative care focuses on providing relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of serious illness. It is not only about the final days of life - it supports patients and families throughout serious illness, enabling people to live as well as possible for as long as possible.
In the UK, this care is provided through hospices, community nursing teams, hospital palliative teams, and specialist inpatient units. The loss of any part of that system has consequences that ripple across the whole.
A SYSTEM UNDER PRESSURE
The UK's hospice sector is at a breaking point. Nearly 6 in 10 hospices have already made cuts to frontline services or are actively considering them. Nearly 1 in 3 people who need end-of-life care do not receive it.
The Government has acknowledged this. In November 2025, it announced a Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End-of-Life Care - one of only six such frameworks - with a final publication expected in autumn 2026.
This framework commits to:
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Ensuring equitable access to high-quality palliative care for everyone who needs it
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A shift towards outcome measurement and reducing health inequalities
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Sustainable contracting of hospice services
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Trialling personal health budgets for those with palliative care needs by end of 2026/27
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Increasing by 10% the number of people identified as approaching end of life by March 2029
This sounds promising. But words on paper must translate into beds, staff, and funding in Liverpool.
The Bigger Picture
Hospice UK
What fair hospice funding looks like
Hospice UK, the national body for hospices, has called on the Government to act urgently on four fronts:
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Full NHS funding of specialist palliative care provided by hospices
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Proper, sustainable NHS contracts for hospices
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Funding to cover NHS pay rises for hospice staff
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National accountability for equitable provision, wherever you live
Toby Porter, CEO of Hospice UK, has been clear: rising demand and a broken funding model means hospices are under pressure like never before. Nearly 1 in 3 people do not get the end-of-life care they need. Families pay the price.
Liverpool's Palliative Care Picture
Liverpool's need is acute - and growing!
Liverpool's population stood at approximately 495,000 in 2022, with a projected increase of 15% by 2047. The over-70 population is growing at more than twice that rate, with a 30% increase expected by 2047.
Liverpool already experiences higher mortality rates than the England average, reflecting persistent health inequalities and higher rates of chronic illness. Between 5,500 and 5,800 people per year are expected to die in Liverpool by 2035 - an increase of 800 to 1,000 on current figures.
Where are people dying? People should be able to choose where they die. Most prefer home or hospice. Yet in Liverpool, 52.3% of people die in hospital - compared to a national average of 42.7%, and a figure that is rising rather than falling. To reach the national average, around 420 additional people per year would need to be supported to die elsewhere.
Specialist Palliative Care Beds:
Liverpool City Region
Recommended (by population)
139 - 175
Current deficit
36 - 72 beds
[Note: Removing St Joseph's as a non-specialist facility increases the deficit to 67–103 beds for the Liverpool City Region.]
Across Cheshire and Merseyside as a whole, the recommended provision is 216–270 beds. The region holds 153. That is a deficit of between 70 and 125 beds - a position made materially worse by the closure of the Marie Curie Liverpool inpatient unit.