What we are doing
The End of Life Care Audit: Dying in Hospital is a national clinical audit commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) and run by the Royal College of Physicians, with additional funding provided by Marie Curie to assist with the dissemination and usage of audit results for quality improvement purposes. It has been designed to ensure that the priorities for care of the dying person outlined in the document One Chance to Get it Right are monitored at a national level. National audit data will support end of life care commissioners, service providers and policymakers to audit the care and to facilitate quality improvement initiatives.
The End of Life Care Audit builds on the recommendations of the 2014 National Care of the Dying Audit of Hospitals.
The priorities for care of the dying person (taken from the UK Department of Health's One Chance to Get it Right report) are that, when it is thought that a person may die within the next few days or hours:
- this possibility is recognised and communicated clearly, decisions made and actions taken in accordance with the person’s needs and wishes, and these are regularly reviewed and decisions revised accordingly
- sensitive communication takes place between staff and the dying person, and those identified as important to them
- the dying person, and those identified as important to them, are involved in decisions about treatment and care to the extent that the dying person wants
- the needs of families and others identified as important to the dying person are actively explored, respected and met as far as possible
- an individual plan of care, which includes food and drink, symptom control and psychological, social and spiritual support, is agreed, coordinated and delivered with compassion.
You can find out more about the objectives and scope of the audit below.
Regional quality improvement workshops
During 2016 we held four regional quality improvement workshops in Birmingham, Bristol, London and Leeds. A summary of the events will be available shortly.
Update
End of Life Care will be a topic in the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcome Programme (NCAPOP). There is work underway at the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) to determine what will be the scope of the audit via a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders during the winter. In spring 2017, once this scope has been agreed it will then go out to tender and interested parties can then bid to undertake this work.
The End of Life Care – dying in hospital audit has been completed. The email box EOLCA@rcplondon.ac.uk and the web tool are now closed. Please contact CQID@rcplondon.ac.uk if you have any questions or need any information.
