Palliative and End of Life Care Standard
The Palliative and End of Life Care Standard ensures professionals and individuals have the right information to support decision making and aligns with the Universal Principles for Advance Care Planning.
Contents
About this standard
- Publisher
- NHS England
- Publication date
- 1 November 2025
- Publication version
- 1.11.0
- Status
- Active
Show definitions of statuses
Active. Active standards are stable, maintained and have been approved, assured or endorsed for use by qualified bodies.
Deprecated Deprecated standards are available for use and are maintained, but are being phased out, so new functionality will not be added.
Retired standards Retired standards are not being maintained or supported and should not be used.
- Standard type
- Information standards
Show definitions of standard types
Collections. A Collection is a systematic gathering of a specified selection of data or information for a particular stated purpose from existing records held within health and care systems and electronic devices.
Extractions. An extraction is a type of collection that is pulled from an operational system by the data controller and transmitted to the receiver without additional processing or transcription by the sender.
Information standards. Information standards are agreed ways of doing something, written down as a set of precise criteria so they can be used as rules, guidelines, or definitions.
Technical Standards and specifications. Technical standards and specifications specify how to make information available technically including how the data is structured and transported.
- Contact point
england.standards.assurance@nhs.net
Using this standard
The Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) were commissioned by NHS England to develop the following set of resources. These have been migrated into the NHS Standards Directory and will be managed by NHS England from 01 January 2026.
- Associated medias
- General implementation guidance for all PRSB standards (covering structure, data types, version numbering etc). Section specific implementation guidance for palliative care is included in the model.
- Describes the purpose, methodology and stakeholder engagement for developing the standard, along with the findings and recommendations for further work.
- Appendices of final report.
- Details the outcomes of the national survey that was conducted as part of the consultation process.
- Summarises the hazards which could result from implementing the standard.
- Details the potential hazards from implementing the standard with their risk rating and mitigation.
- Version 1.11 of the release notes.
- Applies to
- The standard is for use across the whole of health and social care and for anyone requiring palliative and end of life care.
- Effective from
- 1 November 2025
Topics and care settings
- Topic
- Care
- Care records
- Continuity of care
- Electronic Health Record
- Care setting
- Ambulance (Urgent and Emergency Care)
- Care home
- Community health
- Dentistry
- GP / Primary care
- Home
- Hospital
- Maternity
- Mental health
- Military
- Pharmacy
- Prison
- School
- Social care
- Transport / Infrastructure
- Urgent and Emergency Care
- Walk in centre
Review Information
- Scope
- The standard is UK wide for use across the whole of health and social care and for anyone requiring palliative and end of life care, including children.
- Contributor
- Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB)
Legal basis
- Licence information
This standard is owned by NHS England and is made available for reuse or amendment under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL 3.0).
- Licence
Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL 3.0) https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
More information
People at or near the end of life should receive personalised care that reflects their wishes and priorities, improving their experience and supporting sustainable NHS services. The Palliative and End of Life Care Standard ensures professionals and individuals have the right information to support decision making and aligns with the Universal Principles for Advance Care Planning.
This standard should be used to support the standardised recording of information related to palliative care and end of life forming the core content of information to be held in electronic palliative care co-ordination systems (EPaCCS).
This information may already be recorded in clinical systems using legacy coding that does not conform to the coding requirements set out in the standard. The coding requirements in the standard apply to new data entry.
The standard does not address the issues of migrating legacy data and clinical concepts to conform with the coding requirements set out in the standard. Implementers of the standard will need to be mindful of pre-existing data.
About this standardPeople with a palliative or life-limiting illness at any age want their health and care team to know and respect their care needs and wishes. People also want everyone involved in their care, including family and carers, to have access to information to help them achieve the treatment and care that’s right for them at the end of life. The standard has been developed to ensure key information is collected and shared in a way that:
- Keeps the patient at the centre of decision-making
- Ensures the care team has access to appropriate information to support decision-making
- Promotes the sharing of information held in records in different systems
- Is standardised across health and care (so it is easy to share across organisational and geographical boundaries)
- A person’s palliative and end of life care plan should be designed to be reviewed and updated as their condition changes in line with their wishes and preferences, as discussed with professionals and carers in line with the Universal Principles for advance care planning.
A person’s palliative and end of life care plan should ideally form part of their personalised care plan so that clinicians have a holistic view of the individual, the conditions for which they are being treated, and their needs and preferences as they near the end of their life. If someone doesn’t already have a generalised care plan recorded electronically, you can still create an end of life plan for them.
The benefits of using the standardThe standard will help health and care professionals access information quickly, knowing it can be trusted as a single source of truth, when making key decisions about a person’s care.
When adopted, the standard also ensures that a person’s wishes and needs, as they near the end of life, can be easily shared wherever they are and with whoever is providing their care.
ScopeThe standard is UK wide for use across the whole of health and social care and for anyone requiring palliative and end of life care, including children.
Case studyThe Professional Records Standards Body has produced a short podcast illustrating the importance of personalised care that reflects the person’s wishes and priorities. Listen to Roberta's story
Page last updated: 17 December 2025