This ‘how to’ guide for end of life care builds upon the overarching framework set out in The route to success in end of life care – achieving quality in acute hospitals, published in 2010. The route to success highlighted best practice models developed by acute hospital Trusts, providing a comprehensive framework to enable hospitals to deliver high quality care to people at the end of life. This ‘how to’ guide aims to help clinicians, managers and directors implement ‘The route to success’ more effectively.
The guidelines have been produced by the National End of Life Care Programme (NEoLCP) in collaboration with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. This guide will only improve the way hospitals care for people nearing the end of life if frontline, practical professionals commit to it. Physiotherapists have a crucial role to play in supporting people in the last phase of life, they can make a real difference to improve end of life care.