Patients and carers can see how well their local hospital provides care at the end of life
People can see how well individual hospitals provide care at the end of life and support those important to the patient during their final admission.
The NACEL Patient and Carer Tool, published on 13 August 2026 by the National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL), presents hospital level results for five measures from the audit:
- Personalised care and support planning discussions
- Assessments of spiritual, religious and cultural needs of families and others
- Pain relief given to treat symptoms at the end of life
- Overall quality of care as rated by bereaved people
- Whether the hospital has face-to-face specialist palliative care access 8 hours a day, 7 days a week
NACEL supports quality improvement in care at the end-of-life and signposts to further NACEL outputs and resources to help hospitals improve local services. The audit assesses the quality of care received by people over the age of 18 in their last days of life in acute and community hospitals in England, Wales and Jersey, drawing on patient notes, an organisational survey and a survey of bereaved people.
The tool is available at www.nacel.nhs.uk/patients-and-carers-data. National level results and improvement recommendations are described in the annual NACEL State of the Nations Report, released each August.