Palliative and end of life care factsheet: Patterns of care, England 2021

This updated factsheet published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities provides an update on palliative and end of life care: Patterns of care near end of life. The Patterns of care are related to 4 major conditions: cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and respiratory disease.

And, with regard to place of death, it found:

• hospital is the most common place of death (44.0% of all deaths)
• nearly half of people die in the community, either at home (28.7%) or in a care home (20.2%)
• relatively few people die in a hospice (4.4%) or other places (2.7%) (for example public places or someone else’s home)
• people who died of cancer were the most likely to die at home (41.6% compared to 28.7% of all deaths) or in a hospice (14.0% compared to 4.4%)
• people who died of dementia were the most likely to die in a care home (63.2% compared to 20.2%)
• people who died of respiratory disease were most likely to die in hospital (59.7% compared to 44.0%)
• a large majority (79%) of the 23,882 people who died in hospice, died of cancer