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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2015; 36(02): 94-98
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5851.158836
REVIEW ARTICLE

The changing nature of end of life care

Katrine Cauldwell
Specialist Registrar, Palliative Care, London Deanery, University College London, UK
,
Paddy Stone
Marie Curie Chair of Palliative and end-of-life Care, Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, University College London, UK
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Abstract

Good end of life care (EOLC) for patients with incurable cancer is becoming a greater priority for oncologists in recent years. Frameworks such as the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) have often been helpful in guiding good care at the end of life. However, in the past year, the LCP has been phased out of use in the United Kingdom (UK), following concerns that it was poorly implemented. This review describes the LCP′s origins in the UK, its strengths and limitations, and the concerns that prompted a review of its use. It describes the recommendations for change made by an independent review, and the alternative strategies now being developed in the UK to guide good EOLC. Although the LCP is still being widely used worldwide, the lessons learned from the UK can be widely applied in other countries.

Keywords

Hospice care - palliative care - policy - terminal care - therapeutics


Publication History

Article published online:
12 July 2021

© 2015. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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