The National End of Life Care (EoLC) Programme has been set up to improve care at the end of life for all adults wherever they live in England. The programme supports the UK Department of Health End of Life Care Strategy, announced by Health Secretary Alan Johnson on 16 July 2008, and backed with £286million to provide high quality care for all adults approaching the end of their life. It will help more people to die in the setting they choose, mainly at home surrounded by loved ones.
Launched in November 2004, this national programme aims to increase individuals’ choice over where they wish to live and die. To make this a reality the programme team has been working alongside a number of different organisations, including social and health care services as well as the voluntary and private sectors. Above all, there is a need to work across organisational boundaries and in partnership with the individual and their family to ensure care is person-centred.
Following the publication of 'Building on the Best, Choice Responsiveness and Equity in the NHS' (December 2003), it was shown that patients and carers want choice over care at the end of life. This has been reinforced in the consultation document 'Your health, your care, your say'.
In 'Our Health, our care, our say' (February 2006), the government recognised the need for additional investment to improve end of life care and the need for proper training to look after dying patients and their carers. This will mean extending the roll out of the end of life care tools to cover the whole of the country.
Our initial focus was on raising awareness and helping to expand the use of end of life care tools such as Preferred Priorities for Care, Gold Standards Framework, Liverpool Care Pathway and other locally developed tools.
The launch of the End of Life Care Strategy (July 2008) has changed our role. Having helped to establish the foundations of good practice we are now, in collaboration with key stakeholders, supporting local providers in implementing the new strategy. We are also continuing to collate, disseminate and share examples of good practice.
These promise to be exciting times!
Claire Henry