Date published: 01 April 2016 by Jessica Homer

An audit of end-of-life care for adults in hospitals has found improvements in many areas of care since the last study in 2013. However, too many adults still do not receive care from palliative care specialists out-of-hours. Led by the Royal College of Physicians, the report shows only 16 out of 142 hospital sites in England are able to provide specialist palliative care professionals at all times.

Responding to the report, Anne Harris, Director of Care, said, ‘We welcome this audit for scrutinising whether hospitals are meeting the needs and wishes of dying adults and their families. However we now urge NHS England to make sure that similar research is carried out into how well hospitals are meeting the particular needs and wishes of children at the end of life, and their families, and how many hospitals are providing specialist palliative care for children out of hours.’