Why Marie Curie Cancer Care?

The support Marie Curie Cancer Care received in 2010 meant that more than 31,000 people last year were given the choice of where and how to spend their final days. 

 

Nursing

Marie Curie has 2,000 nurses in the UK and last year they worked for 1,200,000 hours caring for terminally ill patients, including half of all cancer patients who die at home.

The Marie Curie Nursing Service helps people who are approaching the end of their lives to remain at home if they wish to, through its nationwide network of Marie Curie Nurses who provide nursing care at home.

They cover 95% of the UK and the service is free to the people we care for, their families and carers.

Their core service is one-to-one overnight nursing from a Registered Nurse or Senior Healthcare Assistant in a patient’s home, usually for eight or nine hours.  They also run a rapid response service in which nurses go in to a patient’s home at short notice in a crisis. 

Hospices

Marie Curie have 9 hospices and are the biggest provider of hospice beds outside the NHS.

Marie Curie Hospices are vibrant, homely places offering a range of different activities and services to help people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses achieve the best possible quality of life. Care is free to patients and families.

The hospices have a full team of professionals including specialist nurses and doctors,  physiotherapists, occupational therapists, complementary therapists, socail workers and a chaplaincy service.

Patients can visit for a few hours, attend a specific clinic, or have a full programme of care tailored to their individual needs. Hospice staff will help manage symptoms and enhance feelings of wellbeing. Patients can meet other people, share experiences, find the information they need and take part in a range of activities.

Research and Development

Marie Curie Cancer Care is committed to increasing our knowledge and understanding of ways to improve the care that patients receive at the end of life.

We continue to support and develop the work of our three Palliative Care Research Facilities, alongside supporting palliative and end of life care research undertaken by our own staff and researchers around the UK.

We will seek to engage the very best researchers across the UK to work on a range of questions about how to care for patients with cancer and other life-limiting conditions.

Please keep helping Marie Curie Cancer Care to help even more people. Thank you.