End-of-life care in the community: attaining a critical balance

There are not many people who will argue against the need for high-quality care in all healthcare settings, and particularly at the end of life. The recently published report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC, 2011) makes a number of negative observations about poor quality of care in the 100 hospitals they inspected. The report concluded that many hospitals are failing to meet basic needs of older people. It is important that we nurses provide essential care, as there is nothing basic about patients' needs, wishes and aspirations at the end of their lives.