NACEL 2024: Update

The National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL) is currently being redesigned, with the goal of providing more frequent and timely data to organisations and facilitating the use of this data to drive quality improvement.

There will be a pause on data collection in 2023, except in organisations participating in the pilot. Data collection will recommence in 2024 and will include all NHS providers of acute and community inpatient services in England and Wales

Mental Health providers of inpatient care will be included in 2025. Further correspondence and guidance will be sent out in the near future.

The Northern Ireland Public Health Agency eagerly await the roll out of NACEL 2024 in England and Wales, before reviewing commissioning arrangements with NHS Benchmarking Network to conduct NACEL 2024 in Northern Ireland.

NACEL Round Four: Reporting Phase

Round Four bespoke outputs have now been shared with England and Wales participants. Northern Ireland outputs are due in mid-March…

England and Wales participating organisations have now received their local results for NACEL round four (February 2023). The fourth round of NACEL report and appendices, including the recommendations will be published in July 2023, subject to approval from the funder. Northern Ireland participating organisations will receive all NACEL outputs from mid-March 2023.

The fourth round of the audit is comprised of the following elements:

• an Organisational Level Audit covering hospital/submission level questions.

• a Case Note Review reviewing deaths over a set time period.

• a Quality Survey completed online, or by telephone, by the bereaved person.

• a Staff Reported Measure completed online, by members of staff who are most likely to come into contact with dying patients and those important to them.