Findings of the National End of Life Survey | 2023
What were the main findings of the National End of Life Survey? In total, 4,570 bereaved family members and friends participated in the ȴrst National End of Life Survey. People who registered the death of a family member or friend that occurred between 1 September and 31 December 2022 were invited to participate. Participants 1 shared their experiences of the care their relative or friend received in the last months and days of their life, including the care they received at home, in a nursing home or residential care facility 2 , in hospital and in a hospice. The majority of participants across these care settings said that the end-of-life care that their relative or friend received was either ‘good’ or ‘very good’ and that they had been treated with respect and dignity. However, communication and the continuity, availability and responsiveness of care were highlighted as areas which required improvement. Care experiences in di erent settings The survey explored the experiences of people who received care or died in various settings including hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and in their homes. It was clear that the people who died experienced a variety of pathways of care, involving multiple care settings and services in the last months and days of their lives. Just under 40% of participants said that their relative or friend had died in a hospital, followed by 27% who died in a nursing home or residential care facility, 22% who died at home, and 11% who died in a hospice. 3 There were noteworthy dierences in the proȴle of deaths that occurred in each setting. For example, those who died in hospital typically had a shorter duration of illness than those in other settings. This is an important consideration when comparing experiences in dierent settings. Two survey questions asked about coordination in the last months and days of life. Question 64 asked participants if they felt there was good coordination between the dierent services and sta that cared for their relative or friend in the last three months of their life. In total, 1,699 participants (45%) answered that there ‘deȴnitely’ was good coordination between the services and sta. Question 76 asked if there was good coordination between healthcare sta in the last two days, with 3,007 participants (74%) saying that there was ‘deȴnitely’ good coordination.
1 ‘Participants’ is used to refer to the person who completed the questionnaire. The terms ‘relative or friend’, or ‘the person who died’ are used to refer to the person who received care. 2 Hereafter, nursing homes or residential care facilities are referred to as ‘nursing homes’ for the sake of brevity. 3 In total, eight participants said that their relative or friend died in an ambulance or ‘somewhere else’.
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