Monitoring is vital for government’s end of life care strategy to be successful

Monitoring will be crucial if the government’s strategy for care at the end of life is to be implemented fully, said experts at a conference in London on Tuesday 9 December on palliative and end of life care.

The 10 year strategy, launched in July 2008, calls on all NHS trusts in England to provide new services, change current services, and improve training and standards to raise the quality of care of people around the time of their deaths (BMJ 2008;337:a871, 17 Jul, doi:10.1136/bmj.a871).

In a survey by the charity Marie Curie Cancer Care two thirds of respondents said they want to die at home (www.mariecurie.org.uk/aboutus/news/news_archive/news_archive_2008/patients_survey_care.htm), but around 58% of people still end their lives in hospitals. The strategy aims to increase the number of people who are at their chosen location as they approach the end of their lives.

Claire Henry, …