Getting serious about prevention: enabling people to stay out of hospital at the end of life

Author(s)

GREY Andrew

Publisher(s):

National Council for Palliative Care

Publication year:

2015

This report sets out key steps that commissioners can take in collaboration with service providers to enable people who are approaching the end of life to avoid being admitted to hospital when this is possible and appropriate, as well as enabling those who are admitted to make a transition to a community setting quickly. The report argues that as well as reducing the costs to the NHS, enabling people to stay out of hospital at the end of life can make a significant difference to the experiences of dying people and their families. The report makes a number of recommendations for commissioners, service providers and health and social care staff, including: commissioning the increased provision of 24/7 care in community settings, through care homes and hospices, and community health and social care services that can provide care in people’s homes; commissioning anticipatory prescribing of medicines for people approaching the end of life; using available funding, through System Resilience Groups, the Better Care Fund, and Integrated Personal Commissioning, to improve co-ordination between hospitals and community settings, including hospices, for people approaching the end of life; and health and social care staff identifying carers of people who are approaching the end of life and referring them for local authority assessments. (Edited publisher abstract)