Identifying people who may be in their last year of life

Identifying people who may be in their last year of life is a crucial first step and must be done before the practicalities of end of life care can be put in place. It is difficult to do but a number of factors can help:

What the person thinks about their health – often the people suffering the illness notice changes first but may be too frightened to say anything
Age of person
The illness the person suffers from
Other new medical problems e.g. recent heart attack, stroke or new diagnosis of cancer
Severe infection
Recent or multiple admissions to hospital
Weight loss
Increasing frailty
Reduced mobility

Very often health care professionals are not surprised when their patients die but it can be difficult to pin point exactly what it is that makes them think that person’s death was to be expected. Asking the ‘surprise question’ can be useful in identifying patients in their last year of life – ‘would you be surprised if this patient died in the next 12 months?’.

General News 2014-01-01
Update on the Cumbria and Lancashire End of Life Network
EoL update

End of Life Care Strategy:

Best Interests at end of life:

Advance Care Planning:

Preferred Priorities for Care

Liverpool Care Pathway version 12

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