Priorities and opportunities for palliative and end of life care in United Kingdom health policies: a national documentary analysis

BMC Palliative Care

Richard Harding¹  Katherine E. Sleeman¹  Anna Timms¹  Juliet Gillam²  Catherine J. Evans³  Elizabeth L. Sampson⁴  Janet E. Anderson⁵ 

[1]Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King’s College London, Cicely Saunders Institute, Bessemer Road, SE5 9PJ, London, UK

[2]Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King’s College London, Cicely Saunders Institute, Bessemer Road, SE5 9PJ, London, UK

[3]Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road, SE1 8WA, London, UK

[4]Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King’s College London, Cicely Saunders Institute, Bessemer Road, SE5 9PJ, London, UK

[5]Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Brighton, UK

[6]Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK

[7]Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust Liaison Psychiatry Team, North Middlesex University Hospital, London, UK

[8]School of Health Sciences, City, University of London, Northampton Square, EC1V 0HB, London, UK

关键词: Palliative;    Health policy;    End of life care;    Documentary analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12904-021-00802-6

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAccess to high-quality palliative care is inadequate for most people living and dying with serious illness. Policies aimed at optimising delivery of palliative and end of life care are an important mechanism to improve quality of care for the dying. The extent to which palliative care is included in national health policies is unknown. We aimed to identify priorities and opportunities for palliative and end of life care in national health policies in the UK.MethodsDocumentary analysis consisting of 1) summative content analysis to describe the extent to which palliative and end of life care is referred to and/or prioritised in national health and social care policies, and 2) thematic analysis to explore health policy priorities that are opportunities to widen access to palliative and end of life care for people with serious illness. Relevant national policy documents were identified through web searches of key government and other organisations, and through expert consultation. Documents included were UK-wide or devolved (i.e. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales), health and social care government strategies published from 2010 onwards.ResultsFifteen policy documents were included in the final analysis. Twelve referred to palliative or end of life care, but details about what should improve, or mechanisms to achieve this, were sparse. Policy priorities that are opportunities to widen palliative and end of life care access comprised three inter-related themes: (1) integrated care – conceptualised as reorganisation of services as a way to enable improvement; (2) personalised care – conceptualised as allowing people to shape and manage their own care; and (3) support for unpaid carers – conceptualised as enabling unpaid carers to live a more independent lifestyle and balance caring with their own needs.ConclusionsAlthough information on palliative and end of life care in UK health and social care policies was sparse, improving palliative care may provide an evidence-based approach to achieve the stated policy priorities of integrated care, personalised care, and support for unpaid carers. Aligning existing evidence of the benefits of palliative care with the three priorities identified may be an effective mechanism to both strengthen policy and improve care for people who are dying.

【 授权许可】

CC BY