Hospice UK releases new Care After Death guidance

We are pleased to share the 3rd Edition of the “Care after Death Guidance: for staff responsible for care after death.”

The National Nurse Consultant Group (Palliative Care) in partnership with Hospice UK has developed the updated guidance.

The guidance is endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Pathologists. In working to provide the third edition we have circulated the draft guidance widely to organisations with expertise who contribute to care after death. We want to thank all contributors to the guidance.

High quality care after death is not just an expectation, but also an absolute requirement to ensure clinical care, dignity for the deceased and the provision of compassionate support and information for the key contacts / significant others who are heading into bereavement.

Indeed as the move to care for people in their own preferred place of care continues for those whose death can be anticipated, then patients approaching death and their families should expect equivalent standards in all settings.

This fully revised third edition guidance ensures that the deceased and their family/key contacts are kept at the centre focus of care with clear standards of care and their privacy and dignity maintained.

It shows how this can be achieved whilst ensuring that sensitive issues such as tissue donation, coroner’s requirements, and the health and safety of all staff in the light of Covid are addressed. It includes reference to the new Medical Examiner process.

This edition aims to provide practical resources for educators and we urge commissioners to consider its implications in education commissioning, and local commissioning to ensure that the best possible outcomes are delivered with respect to the care of the deceased and their families.

You can access the guidance on the Hospice UK website.

We would like to thank everyone involved in generously developing, reviewing, and contributing to this guidance to support practice and improve care for all.

Feedback is welcome via clinical@hospiceuk.org.