Hospices informal care intermediate care palliative care policy formulation politics social care provision terminal illness carers cost effectiveness health authorities

Currently, around 56% of people die in hospital, 20% at home, 20% in nursing or residential homes and 4% in hospices. Yet surveys suggest that the majority of people would prefer to be supported to die in their own homes. We note the recent economic analysis which Marie Curie has produced of the potential cost benefits arising from a shift towards more patients dying at home and recommend that the Department assesses this carefully.

1.. As one of our witnesses observed, "we all die … 100% mortality is an immutable fact and it is not actually a sign of failure".[1] However, death remains the last taboo. Every year about 520,000 people die in England, around a quarter of whom access some form of palliative care. Many patients experience "severe symptoms" and "psychosocial problems" in their last months of life.[2]