Their research found that out-of-hours Emergency Department admissions increase steeply in the last three months of life and are more common among people living in the most deprived areas.
The report was funded by the Marie Curie ‘Better End of Life’ programme. It was led by King's College London researchers, with collaborators at the University of Hull and University of Cambridge, the report investigated out-of-hours palliative care services across the UK.
The report received a large amount of media coverage, including a BBC news story and a discussion on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show
Our research uncovers considerable variation in the care and services that are provided in the evening or at weekends across the UK. If these services are not in place, people may have no choice but to go to hospital, even if their preference is to stay at home.
Because we know that demand for palliative and end of life care will increase over the next decade, it is essential that the gaps in services out-of-hours are addressed, so that everyone with advanced illness has access to the right care, whenever and wherever they need it.
