King's College London

Background:

• Emergency hospital admission in the last months of life is used as an indicator of care quality for adult end-of-life care. Most adults with advanced illness who express a preference say that they would prefer to remain at home, and die at home, and want to avoid unnecessary hospitalisations.
• Gaps and variation in primary and community care mean people with advanced illnesses are more likely to use emergency hospital services. This is a particular issue out of hours.
• For children and young people with life-limiting illnesses, little is known about patterns of primary and secondary care during the last year of life.

Policy relevance:

• This project will provide data on how to improve outcomes for people in the last months of life, and relieve pressure on the acute system.
• The project will examine outcomes by deprivation and among priority groups (such as people with chronic respiratory disease), aligning with Core20PLUS5.
• The population-based approach means the project provides high-quality evidence relating to current metrics, as well as insights to guide development of new metrics and standards.

Data sources:

• The study will use linked data across primary and secondary care.