Marie Curie has said that improving care in the community could prevent regular trips to A&E for many people who are battling terminal illness

More can be done to stop terminally ill people from being rushed to hospital unnecessarily, a charity has said.

Marie Curie has said that community support for those who are fighting terminal illness can reduce the need for people to spend time in hospital.

The charity found that there were nearly 100,000 emergency admissions for people in the last year of their life, costing NHS Scotland £285 million and amounting to more than one million days in hospital.

Richard Meade, head of policy and public affairs for Marie Curie in Scotland, said that although some hospital admissions were necessary, more can be done to provide care in the community.

“Being rushed repeatedly to hospital is stressful and upsetting, particularly when someone may have little time left,” he said.

“A&E should be a last resort, not the first port of call for care. It makes an already difficult time much worse.”

Meade said the integration of health and social care in Scotland means that community palliative care services can be improved and more widely provided.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Scotland is widely recognised for providing high quality palliative care for those nearing the end of their life. Through our Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care, we want to make sure that everyone who needs it receives high quality palliative care, tailored to their needs, in hospital or in the community.”