Overview
This quality standard covers the clinical care of adults (aged 18 and over) who are dying, during the last 2 to 3 days of life. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.
It does not cover care before the last few days of life, such as palliative care or ‘end of life care’ (often defined as care during the last year or so of a progressive disease), or care after death. These are included in NICE’s quality standard on end of life care for adults.
Last reviewed: 2 March 2017
How to use quality standards and how we develop them
Quality standards help you improve the quality of care you provide or commission. They apply in England and Wales (see the UK government website and Welsh government website). Decisions on how they apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are made by ministers in the Scottish government and Northern Ireland Executive.
Find out how to use quality standards and how we develop them.
Endorsing bodies
This quality standard is endorsed by NHS England as required by the Health and Social Care Act (2012).
Supporting organisations
A number of organisations recognise the benefit of this quality standard in improving care. They work with us to promote it to commissioners and service providers:
- Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland
- Association of Supportive and Palliative Care Pharmacy
- British Geriatrics Society
- National Council for Palliative Care
- Royal College of Anaesthetists
- Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
- Royal College of Physicians (RCP)
- Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
- The Society of Tissue Viability