End of Life Care No Worse For Dementia Patients

Statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, show that relatives of those with dementia stated on their death certificate, rated end of life care as positively as those without dementia mentioned.; with 46% rating overall care in the last three months of life as outstanding or excellent.

The figures were published in the Department of Health commissioned, National Bereavement Survey, the aim of which is to find out how families rated the care of their loved ones in the last three months of their lives. The survey covered a number of areas including; quality of care, dignity and respect, coordination of care and support for relatives friends or carers.

Ratings of the overall quality of care across all services were promising, with 78% of respondents rating care in the last three months as either good, excellent or outstanding. Those whose relatives spent their final months in a hospice, rated quality of care highest compared with those using other services such as hospitals and care homes.

Another aspect of care analysed was the dignity and respect shown by staff towards patients. Staff in hospices received the highest proportion showing dignity and respect ‘always’ (Over 80%), with hospital staff receiving the lowest proportion for this same statement (55%).

Those whose relatives spent some or all of their last three months at home felt that community services worked well together with 45% saying that they definitely worked well together. The integration of hospital services was not rated as highly, with only 33% agreeing that they worked well together.

In terms of support, 60% of respondents said that they had definitely been given enough support at the time of death. A further 68% said that they hadn’t talked to anyone from any support services since the death, and that they did not want to.

On the publications release Simon Chapman, Director of Public and Parliamentary Engagement at the National Council for Palliative Care said: “Although there are some encouraging findings, this is just the latest in a long line of reports which highlight unacceptable inconsistencies in end of life care, with hospitals once again performing especially badly”

What do you think? Do the findings show some positives or is the study just more proof that the NHS are struggling to cope with our ageing population? Leave your comments below.