Management of Symptoms in Adults in the Last Days of Life

This guidance relates to the prescribing of medicines to manage symptoms for patients in the last days of life. Not every patient will require symptom management but individual need can be difficult to anticipate and therefore proactive prescribing

Care of dying adults in the last days of life

This guideline covers the clinical care of adults (18 years and over) who are dying during the last 2 to 3 days of life. It aims to improve end of life care for people in their last days of life by communicating respectfully and involving them, and the people important to them, in decisions and by maintaining their comfort and dignity. The guideline covers how to manage common symptoms without causing unacceptable side effects and maintain hydration in the last days of life.

Palliative Care Aide Memoire

The process of assessment can help to produce a common understanding of needs. The assessor should be any experienced health or social care professional, who normally undertakes assessments as part of their role. The purpose of this aide memoire is to act as a prompt when assessing and reviewing patients with palliative and end of life care needs across conditions.

End of Life Care Operational System (ELCOS)

ELCOS aims to ensure that people who have been identified as possibly in the last year of life have details of their personalised care plan and preferences for care, including any Advance Care Plan available as part of their care record.