There has been a “rapid acceleration” in the number of people dying at home in the UK, with hospices delivering almost one million “hospice-at-home” services in 2020 and 2021, a report has found. Analysis by the Nuffield Trust in conjunction with Hospice UK has revealed that more people are dying at home than ever before, with more than 100,000 extra deaths being recorded in a home setting over the last two years.
In contrast, hospice day services and outpatient settings saw a decline in people seen, and there were fewer hospice inpatients in the same period. Hospices say they have had to adapt to this “rapidly accelerating” trend, which was first observed before the Covid pandemic began, and are calling for better data to be collected about hospice use across the UK so they can continue to provide the necessary end-of-life care.
Hospices provided end-of-life support throughout the pandemic, as well as delivering virtual welfare, bereavement and therapy services. The report also found that despite a 4% drop in the number of people supported by hospices in 2020/21, which represents only a small decrease when compared to other health services during the pandemic, hospice and end-of-life care still faced significant disruption.
