Report warns patients receiving palliative care at home are suffering energy hardship

In a survey of nurses, only 13% reported that the homes where they provided support were adequately warm. One-third of nurses had experienced a case where they felt the person they were caring for had to go without heating.

Patients receiving palliative care at home must be designated as “extremely vulnerable customers” to ensure their energy supplier cannot disconnect them for any reason, a new report has urged.

They must also be prioritised to have their home retrofitted, it said, after nurses reported many of their patients living in damp, mouldy and cold homes.