Care and compassion at the end of life

Aim: To examine the provision of the ‘end of life care strategy’ and the perception of provision by patients and carers. Introduction: In determining what constitutes excellence in care at the end of life, one must firstly acknowledge ‘what care and compassion is’. Following this it should be established what one should expect as a minimum standard of care. The end of life care strategy was initiated by the Department of Health in 2008. This guidance was intended to drive forward end of life care provision where patients were seen as the priority and encouraged to engage in all decision making at each point in their journey. Standards suggested by NICE (2011) further support patient empowerment and inclusivity in care planning. Method: A literature search was conducted in order to determine whether there has been a change in provision and to identify whether patients and their carers perceive an excellence in the care that has been delivered. Results: The literature is limited but the underlying issues of pre-end of life care strategy (2008) remain apparent. Patients and their carers continue to lack the autonomy they deserve and decisions are made about them rather than by them. Owing to the lack of direction which should come from the patient, care may be fragmented with numerous members of a multidisciplinary team being involved. Conclusion: Patient involvement is paramount. Early discussions relating to choices at the end of life need to be achieved in a timely manner. This should ensure that the patient and carer experience a high standard of excellent care which has been planned with inclusivity in min