Too many people are dying without the care they need and could benefit from. We have evidence of what works, but too often, this evidence is not translated into the care that patients and families receive. King’s College London has been developing plans for an Impact Centre for Palliative and End-of-Life Care. The Impact Centre will unlock the value of this knowledge, accelerate better care for people affected by dying, death, and bereavement, and reduce low-value care.

What is the challenge?

Every year, more than 100,000 people die in the UK with unmet palliative care needs. This figure is set to rise: by 2040, palliative care needs in England and Wales will be 25-40% higher than in 2020.

Widespread inequalities in palliative care by ethnicity, socio-economic position and geography, alongside difficulty accessing research evidence and information, contribute to the gap between the number of people who need good care and those who receive it.

The Impact Centre for Palliative and End-of-Life Care will close the gap between evidence and practice, ensuring that everyone approaching the end of life receives the best care possible.

Aims

Hosted by the Cicely Saunders Institute, the Impact Centre will be the first of its kind.

The Centre will:

• Reduce physical, psychological, and emotional distress experienced by people with life limiting illnesses.
• Ensure that ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexuality, diagnosis, location and other characteristics are not barriers for access to good care.
• Reduce inappropriate and unwanted, costly interventions, and create a shift towards proactive palliative care, with services that have reliable evidence to support them.
• Ensure that health and care staff have the tools to provide high-quality, coordinated, and person-centered care, aligned with people’s preferences and values.