THE share of national funding available to help terminally ill patients in Richmond and Twickenham is 'derisory' says MP Vincent Cable.

It appears that over 60 per cent of local terminally ill cancer patients die in hospital with only 17 per cent at home and 16 per cent in hospices.

The national averages are respectively 52 per cent, 16 per cent and 23 per cent, yet surveys show that, given a choice, only a tiny percentage wish to spend their last days in hospital and the vast majority would prefer to be at home or, failing that in a hospice.

In terms of funding under a recent national fund set up to help with the planning of end of life the borough has received only £54,000 in this financial year, an eighth of what it should have had on a pro-rata basis, it is claimed.

Dr Cable said: "If choice in health care is to mean something it must apply to where we spend the final days of our lives. It is clear that, whenever possible, people prefer to be at home with loved ones or in specialised hospices.

"But, in practice, those preferences are not available because the support isn't there and there isn't adequate hospice provision.

"In our borough, there is an especially serious lack of support."

Vincent Cable has questioned the primary care trust about what contribution it will make to the new Hampton Shooting Star hospice for children when it starts to receive patients soon.

He added: "Current NHS financial arrangements appear to be based on the rather cynical assumption that voluntary fund raising will expand to fill the gap left by a dearth of government funding.

"There should instead be a genuine partnership between the NHS and the voluntary sector to meet the needs of people when they are at their most vulnerable."

Joan Mager, chief executive of Richmond and Twickenham PCT, said: "We aim to support individuals, families and carers with end of life care in whichever way we can.

"We have a number of home care teams within the borough but due to the complexities of palliative care, patient's conditions and individual families/carers circumstances it is not always possible or appropriate to look after patients at home.

"In such cases we endeavour to provide care for patients in local hospices or community hospitals such as Teddington Memorial Hospital rather than at large acute hospitals."