Passing the baton of trust

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• End-of-Life Care
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Projected increases in annual deaths necessitate enhanced palliative and end-of-life care services.
• Effective communication and shared decision-making are vital components of quality patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Daffodil Standards, a new framework for improving palliative and end-of-life care.
• To provide general practices with a structured, evidence-based approach to quality improvement in advanced illness care.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Daffodil Standards through a partnership between the Royal College of General Practitioners and Marie Curie.
• Utilizing quality improvement methodology to structure the approach for general practices.

Main Results:

• The Daffodil Standards provide an evidenced-based, structured framework.
• The standards aim to enhance the care provided to patients with serious illnesses or approaching end of life.

Conclusions:

• The Daffodil Standards offer a practical, quality-driven approach to improve palliative and end-of-life care.
• Proactive, sensitive communication and shared decision-making are foundational to high-quality end-of-life care.