Current Topic:
End of life care
Download Continuing Professional Development module
Abstract
The profile of end of life care has risen considerably in the UK in recent years, following publication of the National End of Life Care Strategy in England (DH 2008) and similar developments across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Approaches to end of life care, the ethics involved and the implementation of end of life care pathways have further raised the profile, particularly, in the UK media.
While the emerging strategies do relate to all adult end of life care, irrespective of diagnosis, approximately 25% of all deaths across the UK (ONS 2009) and the European Union (European Communities 2006) are due to cancer. The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) has also estimated that over the course of the next UK Parliament, around 12 million people in the UK will suffer a family bereavement, experiencing end of life care at close quarters (NCPC 2009). Those experiences may shape their expectations and fears, regarding healthcare, for some time to come.
While specialist palliative care professionals have provided care predominantly for cancer patients, recent demands on their services, for patients with non-cancer diagnoses, may increase the need for other professionals, working with cancer patients, to skill themselves up to meet a more defined level of competence. As a result, this module is aimed at all health professionals, working with adult cancer patients, to help better identify and manage end of life care needs, of both the patient and carers.
This module will provide the reader with a firm grounding in the background to developments in end of life care in England and the UK more generally, a differentiation of terminology and perspectives. It will prompt an exploration of personal experiences and feelings and a consideration of the patient perspective, regarding end of life care and other concomitant issues, such as Do Not Attempt to Resuscitate orders, issues around nutrition and hydration, patient consent and capacity, as affected by the Mental Capacity Act (Department of Health 2005) and will present recent developments from the Department of Health End of Life Care Team and the National Council for Palliative Care, including the End of Life Care for All e-learning project (e-ELCA).
Department of Health (2005) 2005 Mental Capacity Act. The Stationery Office, London.
Department of Health (DH) (2008) The End of Life Care Strategy: Promoting High Quality Care for All Adults at the End of Life. (284109) Department of Health, London.
European Communities (2006) Causes of Death in the EU. Statistics in Focus: Population and Social Conditions. European Communities. ISSN: 1024-4352.
National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) (2009) End of Life Care Manifesto 2010. National Council for Palliative Care, London.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2008) Births and Deaths in England and Wales 2008. Office for National Statistics, Newport.
