SIR – Emma Clayton has written an excellent article about dying, and I affirm all she says about the quality of palliative care offered by the Marie Curie hospice. However, I would add two points. First, most people who die in Bradford do not have the benefits of a Marie Curie stay.

The Joseph Rowntree Trust runs Hartrigg Oaks Nursing Home in York, where my mother-in-law is in the final stages of life.

The staff there count it part of their role to provide a peaceful atmosphere to allow residents to talk about concerns they may wish to express, especially any unfinished business with their families or friends.

Where the resident has dementia, such openness is offered to their family. This is a model which Bradford could imitate.

Secondly, I notice on hospital visits what long hours family members are prepared to spend with those who are ill.

When conversation flags, I commend, for those who are believers, the practice of praying and reading psalms and other passages of scripture.

Death is for most people a feared prospect and visitors can feel helpless as to know what to say. Prayer and the Bible give hope.

Stephen Treasure, vicar of St Oswald’s and All Saints churches, Little Horton