Deaths at home during Covid-19: A patient and family perspective on new Nuffield Trust research (19 April 2023)

Summary

A group of patients and families with experience of end-of-life care worked with researchers from the Nuffield Trust to review findings from its research investigating the effect of the pandemic on people who were receiving end-of-life care at home. This web page summarises the research findings from the perspective of patients and family.

Content

Key findings

• Issues relating to medication near the end of life were seen as the biggest roadblock to a good death.
• Patients and their families faced difficulties getting the medication they needed.
• The quality of contact with health services is more important than the quantity.
• For people with Alzheimer's and dementia, informal carers play a particularly vital role. 
• People living in the most deprived areas received fewer services during the pandemic than those in the least deprived areas.