NACEL published four new outputs on care at the end of life in hospitals
NHS Benchmarking Network today published four new outputs from the National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL), the national audit of the quality of care experienced by dying adults, and those important to them, in hospitals across England, Wales and Jersey. NACEL has been run by NHS Benchmarking Network since 2017 and is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP).
State of the Nations report
The State of the Nations report set out the national position on care at the end of life in acute and community hospitals in 2025, based on data reviewed, cleansed and analysed for the period January to December 2025. It covered specialist palliative care provision, symptom management and personalised care planning, among other measures.
Mental Health Spotlight Audit
A Mental Health Spotlight Audit examined care at the end of life in mental health inpatient settings during 2025, reporting against four national recommendations for improving the quality of care in this setting.
Bespoke Dashboard Report
Participating organisations can download a bespoke dashboard report summarising their own 2025 acute and community hospital data against NACEL's key indicators, headline findings from the 2025 State of the Nations Report and Patient and Carer Tool metrics from the Data and Improvement Tool.
Patient and Carer Tool
The Patient and Carer Tool was refreshed with 2025 acute and community hospital data and became viewable at hospital and site level to the public. It covers five areas: specialist palliative care access, pain relief, overall care rated excellent or good, personalised care and support planning, and spiritual, religious and cultural needs. The tool was made open to the public, giving patients, families and carers clearer information about care at the end of life at hospitals near them.