Tag Archives: preferred place of death

Introduction Landmark qualitative studies published within the last decade highlighted inequalities in end-of-life care between people with advanced heart failure (HF) and cancer.1-8 A palliative approach and access to specialist palliative care (SPC) services for people with advanced HF is now underlined in national and international policy.9-14 However, those with HF are still more likely to die in hospital in the UK than cancer patients,15 and UK 2010 national audit figures document less than 4% of people with HF referred for palliative care.16 Hospice referral seems higher in the USA and Canada.17,18 We have previously reported retrospect

Introduction End-of-life care is now a Department of Health (DoH) priority. Primary care trusts have been charged with ensuring provision of high-quality end-of-life care, utilising enhanced central funding.1 While most people would prefer not to die in hospital, many still do.2 In order to change this situation, clinicians need to establish individual patient’s preferences regarding place of death (PPD) and then work proactively towards their achievement. The DoH is promoting the use of tools to help with this, such as the Gold Standards Framework (GSF), Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) and Preferred Place of Care Plan, all of which are applic