End of life care: are we getting it right?

Around 500,000 people die each year in the UK. Of these deaths 75% are not sudden, but expected.1 Although the The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Quality of Death Index ranked end of life care in the UK as the best in the world2, various reports have identified the need for improvement and to tackle variation in the care provided for patients.3,4 In recent years, we have seen a move away from a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, towards delivering more personalised care, tailored around the individual. However, are we now getting it right and ensuring a dignified and compassionate experience, in line with a patient’s wishes, at the end of their lives?

An end to the Liverpool Care Pathway

In July 2013, the Independent Review of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) made a number of recommendations in its report More Care, Less Pathway5 about how end of life care should be improved in the wake of complaints about instances of poor care associated with the use of the LCP. The recommendations were considered by the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People, consisting of 21 organisations from across the health and care system, including the Department of Health.