Findings of the National End of Life Survey | 2023
Participants’ comments also highlighted this topic, with many expressing a desire for better continuity, availability and responsiveness between the various services, settings and professionals involved in end-of-life care. Participants whose relative or friend died in a hospice were more likely to rate their end-of-life care as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ (98%), when compared with a nursing home or residential care facility (92%), hospital (84%) or those who died at home (89%). There were a number of other notable dierences in responses to questions based on where the person died. For example, 99% of participants whose relative or friend died at home said that they had died ‘in the right place’, compared with 94% for hospices, 89% for nursing homes and 75% for hospitals. 4 In addition, participants were most likely to say they always felt welcome to visit their relative or friend in a hospice at any time (95%) in the last three months, compared with a nursing home (81%) or a hospital (58%). 5 When asked about visiting hospitals and other healthcare settings in the last two days of their relative or friend’s life, most participants said they were given the option to visit at any time, including outside of regular visiting hours. Areas of good care experience and areas requiring improvement The survey included three free-text questions, which asked participants to describe what was good about the care their relative or friend received, what could be improved and for any further comments or suggestions. In their responses to these questions, participants highlighted the respect and dignity with which their relative or friend was treated. In addition, a large number of comments praised sta for the care they provided, as well as the physical, spiritual and emotional support that was made available.
“I have little to compare to, but I felt my wife was given care that was second to none. The compassion and commitment from the doctors, nurses and sta was excellent. I cannot express my gratitude enough.”
When asked to describe in their own words what could be improved, participants highlighted issues relating to the continuity, availability and responsiveness of care; and a desire for clearer and more consistent communication.
“Coordination of various medical teams and communications with family - this seemed to be entirely lacking and most contact with doctors was because you bump into them as opposed to a formal way of getting information.”
4 Question 90 asked participants ‘On balance, do you think that they died in the right place?’ 5 The denominator for these ȴgures includes those who said the question was not applicable to them or those who were not allowed to visit due to restrictions.
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