Palliative and end-of-life care research funding: an analysis of current UK health research spending

Abstract

Objectives Despite increasing demand for palliative and end-of-life care, the funding for research in this area has historically been low. Previous UK analyses in 2016 found that less than 0.3% of the funding for cancer research was directed towards palliative care research; current expenditure on palliative and end-of-life care research is unknown. We therefore sought to determine current UK expenditure on palliative and end-of-life care research. Methods Secondary analysis of publicly available research funding data—UK Health Research Analysis 2022, from the UK Clinical Research Classification System Health Research Classification System. This dataset details UK health research funding from all public sectors (including the governments of the four nations of the UK), charities, societies and professional bodies for the year 2022. Results Out of 18 023 research funding awards in total in 2022, we identified 136 relating to palliative and end-of-life care research. The total funding for palliative and end-of-life care research was £10.9 million, representing just 0.26% of the total £4.2 billion awarded. Conclusions Palliative and end-of-life care research continues to be one of the lowest-funded areas of healthcare research in the UK. More investment into palliative and end-of-life care research is urgently needed to advance evidence to meet the rising demand for palliative care