Key Facts

• A recent survey found that whilst 68% of people said they were comfortable talking about it death, less than a third (29%) of people have discussed their wishes around dying. Only 4% have written advance care plans.
• Around 70% of people would prefer to die at home, yet of the 500,000 people who die each year in England, around 60% die in hospitals

Source: Dying Matters NatCen Survey, 2009.

• The Westminster Government published the End of Life Care Strategy in July 2008 to promote high quality care for all adults at the end of life in England by providing people with more choice about where they would like to live and die.
• About 500,000 people die in England every year. The majority of deaths occur in adults over 65 years old, and following a period of chronic illness related to conditions such as heart disease, stroke, liver disease, renal disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, neurological diseases and dementia.
• The annual number of deaths is predicted to rise from 503,000 in 2006 to 586,000 in 2030.
• The number of people with dementia is predicted to rise from 700,000 to 1 million in 2025. 
• We die in a range of different places. In 2006 In England and Wales 290,000 people died in hospital, 95,000 died at home, 47,000 people died in care homes with nursing, 33,000 in other care homes, and 24,000 in hospices.

Source: National Council of Palliative End of Life Care Manifesto 2010, 2009.