NACEL Public Facing Tool

1. Hospitals with face-to-face specialist palliative care (8 hours/day, 7 days/week) 

National standard: 100% 

Outlier status: Not applicable 

Data source: Hospital/Site Overview 

Inclusion criteria: 

• Denominator: All hospitals with access to specialist palliative care 

• Numerator: Hospitals where face-to-face specialist palliative care (by a doctor and/or nurse) is available 8 hours a day, 7 days a week 

• Cohort: NHS providers delivering inpatient care to adults in acute or community hospitals in England, Wales, and Jersey between 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2024 

Rationale:   

Some people have very serious or long-term illnesses that can't be cured. These people may need specialist care, called palliative care.  

Palliative care offers physical, emotional and practical support to people with a terminal illness. It can be offered at any point after a terminal diagnosis (Marie Curie, 2022). 

This palliative care team knows a lot about how to: 

• Help with pain and other problems caused by the illness 

• They can also help with worry and other hard feelings 

• Support other care staff by sharing their knowledge 

In hospitals, it's really important that people can see this palliative care team if they need to. This helps make sure they get the best care. This report shows how many hospitals have this kind of care available every day of the week, for 8 hours a day. Experts say this is the right level of care. 

2. Dying person was given enough pain relief 

National standard: None 

Outlier status: Not applicable 

Data source: Bereavement Survey 

Inclusion criteria: 

• Denominator: Bereaved people who responded to this survey question (excluding “Not applicable” responses) 

• Numerator: Responses of “Strongly agree” or “Agree” that the dying person received enough pain relief during the final hospital admission 

• Cohort: Families, carers, and friends of people who died in hospital between 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2024 (sudden deaths excluded) 

Rationale:   

When someone is close to the end of their life, it’s really important to help them feel as comfortable as possible. This includes making sure they don’t have too much pain. 

Many people worry about pain when they think about someone dying. But not everyone has pain at the end of life. If someone does have pain, doctors and nurses should help quickly to make it better. They also try to fix anything that might be causing the pain if they can. 

This information shows what families and friends said about the pain relief their loved one got in hospital during their last stay. The answers come from a survey of people whose family member or friend died in hospital. 

3. Hospital care and support rated as excellent or good 

• National standard: None 

• Outlier status: Not applicable 

• Data source: Bereavement Survey 

• Inclusion criteria: 

• Denominator: Bereaved people who rated the overall care and support given by the hospital to themselves, and others, as excellent, good, fair or poor 

• Numerator: Those who rated the care and support as "excellent" or "good" 

• Cohort: Families, carers, and friends of people who died in hospital between 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2024 (sudden deaths excluded) 

Rationale:   

When someone is dying, it’s also important to care for their family and friends. Hospital staff should try their best to listen to them, respect their needs, and support them. 

This information shares what families, friends, and others said about the care and support they got from hospital staff while their loved one was in the hospital for the last time. 

4. Dying person had discussed personalised care and support planning 

National standard: None 

Outlier status: Not applicable 

Data source: Case Note Review 

Inclusion criteria: 

• Denominator: Case notes with a response to whether personalised care planning conversations were documented 

• Numerator: Case notes that include evidence of such conversations 

• Cohort: People who died in hospital between 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2024 (sudden deaths excluded) 

Rationale:   

Personalised care means talking to someone about what matters most to them about their health and care. These talks help doctors and carers understand what the person wants and needs. 

These conversations can happen in hospital or somewhere else like at home. 

If someone is dying in hospital, it’s really important that the hospital team knows what the person said in these talks. This helps the team try to give care that respects their wishes and supports them in the best way possible. 

This report looks at care between January 1 and December 31, 2024. 

5. Spiritual/religious/cultural needs of families and others were assessed 

National standard: None 

Outlier status: Not applicable 

Data source: Case Note Review 

Inclusion criteria: 

• Denominator: Case notes with a response to whether these needs were assessed 

• Numerator: Case notes where an assessment was recorded, or a reason noted for not doing so 

• Cohort: People who died in hospital between 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2024 (sudden deaths excluded) 

Rationale:   

When someone is dying, the hospital should also care about the needs of their family and close friends. This means asking about things that are important to them — like their beliefs, religion, or special traditions. These can be really important. Other people might not have any special beliefs or traditions. 

This information shows how often hospital staff asked about these needs during the person’s last stay in hospital. 

This report looks at care between January 1 and December 31, 2024.