The best place to die in the world is in the UK having been ranked number one by a study that compared the quality of end-of-life care in 80 countries.
In its report, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) says that UK's ranking in the 2015 Quality of Death Index has something to do with comprehensive national policies, strong hospice movement and extensive integration of palliative care into the National Health Service (NHS).
"A very strong marker in our index is the availability of specialized palliative care workers and this is where the UK scores particularly well," said Annie Pannelay, from EIU healthcare. "The UK has a long history of providing treatment in palliative care. The other super strong marker is the way that the countries do have a plan for palliative care."
UK has the best score in the indicator that measures the financial burden to patients with 80 to 100 percent of end-of-life care services being paid for by other sources such as from charitable funding other than the patient.
"The UK's leading position reflects the attention paid to palliative care in both public and non-profit sectors," says the report, which was commissioned by Singaporean philanthropic organization Lien Foundation.
"With a strong hospice movement-much of it supported by charitable funding-palliative and end-of life care are both part of a national strategy that is leading to more services being provided in National Health Service hospitals, as the country works to integrate hospice care more deeply into the healthcare system."
The authors of the study, however, say that despite its ranking, the services provided by UK for its citizen is not enough as its end-of-life care also faces issues and complaints such as those pertaining to poor communication, inadequate out-of-hours services, and delays in referral for treatment, among others.
Rich nations notably performed the best in the index. UK is followed by Australia and New Zealand, which made it to the second and third spot respectively. Other nations that made it to the 10 of the 2015 Quality of Death Index include Ireland, Belgium, Taiwan, Germany and Netherlands. U.S is at number nine followed by France.
The countries with the worst end-of-life care are Iraq, Bangladesh, Philippines, Nigeria, Myanmar, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Iran, Botswana and China.
China's performance is particularly worrying because its one-child policy could mean individuals have to care for two parents and four grandparents which will require more demand for outside resources for support.
Photo: Alyssa L. Miller | Flickr
