More people are dying in hospices

The proportion of people dying in hospices in England has nearly doubled since 1993, but the gap in hospice deaths between people living in the least and most deprived areas appears to be growing, find a new study by the Cicely Saunders Institute at King's College London. The study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research HS&DR Programme (09/2000/58) through the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) and published in the journal Palliative Medicine , examined all hospice deaths in England over a 20-year period, including almost 450,000 deaths from 1993-2012. The study investigated how trends in hospice deaths have changed over time. It also examined the relationship between dying in a hospice and factors such as age, diagnosis and socio-economic position. The UK hospice system is the most developed in the world, with 223 adult inpatient hospice units in England. Around half of all admissions to these hospices are for end-of-life care, with the remainder being for symptom control or respite. In addition to offering inpatient care, many hospices also provide community services and day care.