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End of Life and Palliative Support

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If you or a loved one has a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, comfort, dignity and quality of life are just as high a priority as treatments and healthcare.

Palliative care support helps people to live as comfortably and meaningfully as possible. It focuses on managing symptoms and the impact they have on daily life, supporting yours and your family’s emotional wellbeing, and making practical plans for the future. End of life care can also include this, as well as specific care to keep you comfortable in your final months, weeks or days.

This page explains some of the questions you might have around palliative and end of life support, and how we can help you find the support you need to maintain your comfort, safety and dignity.

More about end of life and palliative support

What you might need from end of life support or palliative care

There can be many reasons why you might need palliative care or end of life support, including cancer, a heart, lung or kidney condition, dementia or another neurological condition, becoming more frail as you get older, a sudden condition or one that has progressed quickly and any illness that has affected your comfort and quality of life.

For children, palliative care might involve helping them manage their symptoms, giving them emotional support to process what’s going on, and giving practical guidance for their parents on what to expect.
For young people, it may mean helping them process uncertainty about their future, getting support from school and friends, or keeping them involved in decisions about their care.

For adults, there might be more of a focus on helping you to manage your physical symptoms, your worries about family or work, and planning what kind of care you want long-term and for older adults, palliative care can include making practical end of life arrangements, managing multiple complex conditions and keeping you comfortable as your condition progresses.

It’s important to remember that palliative care isn’t the same as end of life care, and isn’t only for someone’s final days. Palliative care can begin early and be helpful at any time during a serious illness. Often, planning ahead and getting palliative care in place early can help reduce stress and support your dignity and comfort for longer.

End of life refers to the last year of life. At this stage, care focuses on making the quality of life better for people and their families – and it does this by looking at needs, wishes and preferences.

Here are some of the ways that palliative care might be able to help support with managing symptoms like pain, breathlessness, fatigue, nausea and anxiety, emotional support for you and your family, help with daily activities and accessing healthcare services, religious or spiritual support, based on your personal beliefs and values, keeping a record of what treatments you do and don’t want, and who can make decisions for you if you can’t, practical help and respite options for carers and accessing bereavement support before and after loss.

Questions and answers

Is palliative care the same as end of life care?
Although palliative care and end of life care are often talked about together, they’re not always the same. Palliative care can start early on in an illness to improve your comfort and quality of life. End of life care is more specifically for the final months, weeks or days.
Can I still receive active treatment while having palliative care?
Yes. Many people having palliative care for a serious illness receive it alongside treatments for their condition – starting palliative support doesn’t mean that you need to stop any other treatments.
How do I know when it’s time to get palliative care support?
We understand that it isn’t easy to know when you or a loved one needs to reach out for palliative care. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to wait for a condition to suddenly get worse – palliative care can be helpful anytime that your symptoms or stress and uncertainty over them begin to affect daily life.
Can I choose where I receive care?
Most of the time, you will be able to choose where you receive your palliative or end of life care. This can include at your home, in a care home, in a hospice or in a hospital, depending on what you need. We understand that your comfort is most important at this time, and we will make every effort to see you where you are most comfortable.
What help is available for families or carers?
When a loved one begins palliative or end of life care, it can be an incredibly stressful time for families and carers. We won’t leave you to face that alone – we can help with practical advice, options for respite care, training on essential caring tasks and access to bereavement support. If you need support while caring for a loved one, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
What is advance care planning?
Advance care planning is the process of recording your wishes for any future care. This can include listing any treatments you do or do not want, who can make decisions about your health care if you aren’t able to, and specific instructions like do not resuscitate (DNR) orders. Advance care planning is entirely voluntary so you don’t need to record anything if you don’t want to – but if you do have anything, it’s important to make sure you go through advance care planning to make sure your wishes are known and respected.
Can children or young people be involved in decisions?
Children and young people can always be involved in your care decisions if they want to be, and we have specialist support designed for different age groups. We understand that it can be difficult to talk to children about end of life decisions, and so we also help guide families through these conversations gently.
Is there support for families and carers after someone dies?
Yes – we won’t leave you to process the death of a loved one alone. Depending on what you need, we can help you find bereavement services, counselling and family support to help. Many hospices and charities also offer ongoing support.

Services that can help

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