'Focus on palliative care not assisted dying'

The state of end-of-life care needs needs to be "fixed" before considering legalising assisted dying, a palliative care specialist has said.

MPs across the country are set to vote on Friday whether to take a proposed bill to the next stage.

However, Dr Mike Blaber, a consultant in palliative care at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, said end-of-life care needed "urgent attention".

It comes as hospices have warned that the sector is facing a financial crisis, although the government has pledged support.

"[The bill] is not a case of expanding choice, because the choice of having excellent palliative care does not exist at the moment, that needs to be fixed before we do anything else," Dr Blaber said.

The branch of medicine seeks to relieve pain and improve the quality of life for terminally ill patients and in the best examples can make a huge difference to their experience and that of their family.

St Giles Hospice, in Lichfield, warned in the summer it was dealing with a £1.5m deficit.

Its CEO Elinor Eustace said sustainable funding was a "must" in order to accommodate everyone in need of end-of-life care.

She added that the parliamentary bill comes at a time when hospices are facing "an increasingly challenging period".

Birmingham Hospice likewise announced in June that it was closing beds and cutting staff in the face of an estimated £2.4m budget shortfall, despite huge demand on its services.