End of life care / National Audit Office.

  • Great Britain. National Audit Office.
Date:
[2008], ©2008
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: End of life care / National Audit Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/64 (page 9)
    j There is considerable variation between PCTs in how specialist palliative care services are commissioned and in the availability of such services to the local population. When working with local authorities in carrying out Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and developing priorities for Local Area Agreements, directors of public health should monitor whether the current provision of end of life care services and the needs of the local population are fully assessed and gaps addressed. PCTs should use our feedback reports on the results of our PCT census to compare and contrast the extent of their services. People’s preferences for place of care are generally not being met and access to hospice services is primarily for people with cancer. PCTs should explore the possibility of commissioning more services from hospices to support patients with conditions other than cancer. Such services could include the coordination of care in the locality, providing training to generalist staff working in other settings, and working in partnership with care homes to enhance the care that they provide. The current reviews of medical and nursing education present an opportunity to improve the level of basic training which doctors and nurses receive in end of life care. The General Medical Council’s Education Committee in its review of Tomorrow's Doctors should address how to improve skills in identification, delivery, and awareness of end of life care. The review by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of pre-registration nursing education should address similar issues.