Palliative care is offered when it is clear an illness is no longer curable. Examples of such illnesses include advanced cancer, heart or lung disease, kidney failure, dementia, and motor neurone disease to mention a few.

Palliative care can help manage your symptoms and help with any emotional, social, financial, practical or spiritual needs you or those people close to you may have. Palliative care can be provided for years, with some people having long periods of being well, moving in and out of palliative care services, depending on their needs. It may be provided alongside treatments, therapies and medicines aimed at controlling your illness and improving your quality of life.

You can receive palliative care at home, in hospital, in a care home or in a hospice/ specialist palliative care unit.

End-of-life care is a key part of palliative care. Identifying when a person is approaching this stage can be difficult to predict.

Some people may prefer to focus on their needs and how these may change rather than focusing on timescales around their illness. Health care professionals will assess your needs so that the right care can be provided for you at the right time. This allows you to plan ahead for your preferences and wishes about your care.

There are many people involved in providing palliative and end-of-life care services. Good communication is important between you, your family and the services to ensure that your needs are met.