Half of Brits do not expect quality end of life care from NHS

More than half of people in the UK do not expect to experience high-quality care from the NHS in their final days.

That is the revelation of a survey conducted by Marie Curie Cancer Care, which discovered that 53 per cent of people have doubts over the standard of end of life care they will receive in hospitals.

According to the study, people in London and Scotland are most concerned, usually because they know someone who has passed away recently and are aware of the way they were treated.

One in 20 people in the capital who knew someone who has died recently said the care they received was "very poor".

Publication of the survey has come as the care services minister Norman Lamb has ordered a wide-ranging review into the Liverpool Care Pathway - the programmed used in almost all NHS hospitals for patients who are expected to pass away in the near future.

It has been criticised heavily, with many families claiming they were not informed their loved one was being placed on it.

Dr Jane Collins, chief executive of Marie Curie Cancer Care, said: "We know that the provision of good quality end of life care varies greatly and that the end of life care system isn't working well enough for all."

Find out about end of life care and nursing at Barchester care homes.