The National Context

Dying in Ireland

Each year 29,000 people die in Ireland and as many as 290,000 people are left bereaved. Research carried out for the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) has found that most people, 67%, would prefer to die at home. In reality only 26% will die at home, 43% will die in an acute hospital, 25% in a long stay setting and 6% in a hospice. The IHF research has also found that where appropriate support can be provided, the number dying at home rises significantly.

Standards of Care

Given the diversity of settings where people die, it is not surprising that the approach to end of life care may vary depending on the setting and the business of that setting. The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has statutory responsibility for the development of standards in health and social care and for monitoring healthcare quality generally. The Authority has developed the National Standards for Safer, Better Healthcare in advance of the introduction of a mandatory licensing system for public and private health care providers. The standards, which include provision for end of life care, have been endorsed by government.

HIQA has already developed the National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People and the National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for People with Disabilities. Both of these standards address the provision of end of life care.

The Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) is a national charity dedicated to improving the quality of care available to people in life limiting circumstances and to the bereaved. The IHF is working to bring hospice care to hospital settings through the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme.

Hospice philosophy

“Our Vision is that no one should face death or bereavement without the care and support they need; Our Mission is to achieve dignity, comfort and choice for all people facing the end of life”

The Forum on End of Life in Ireland

Initiated by the IHF in 2009, the Forum’s objectives were to promote a national conversation about dying, death and bereavement and to establish what issues matter most to people regarding end of life from a wide range of perspectives: social, health, economic, legislative, administrative, educational, cultural and religious. The work of the Forum was driven by the principles and values of hospice and palliative care.