Contributions to Palliative and End-of-Life Care by Community Health Nursing Services: Improving Care…

StudyJournal of clinical nursing· Aug 2026

Contributions to Palliative and End-of-Life Care by Community Health Nursing Services: Improving Care Through National and Regional Service Evaluations.

Sophie Pask, Assem Khamis, Tina Jarrett … Fliss E M Murtagh

Palliative & End-of-LifeStudyClinical practiceQ1IF 4.5

Palliative and end-of-life care's share of nursing time stayed stable despite rising need.

Contributions to Palliative and End-of-Life Care by Community Health Nursing Services: Improving Care Through National and Regional Service Evaluations.

Sophie Pask … Fliss E M Murtagh

Journal of clinical nursing · Aug 2026 · Q1 in General Medicine

Purpose

AIM(S): To evaluate adult palliative and end-of-life care provision in England by community health nursing services using a national dataset (2013-2024) to report patterns in service provision over time and a regional dataset (2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25) to describe palliative and end-of-life care activities.

Methods

Secondary analyses of existing national and regional datasets.

9.6%

Results

9.6%

unchanged, even as more patients needed this care

More results

Nationally, referrals to community health nursing services increased steadily from ~4,000 to ~6,000 per 100,000 weighted population between 2013 and 2024, while unique service users remained stable (around 2,600-2,800).

More results

Median average time on caseload reduced markedly from over 150 days to around 50 days, despite stable contact frequency (median 23 total contacts per service user) and duration (median 28 min for face-to-face contacts).

A disproportionate amount of palliative and end-of-life care occurred out-of-hours.

“

Conclusion · 1 of 3

Increasing referrals and shorter time on caseloads indicate a system under pressure. Time spent on palliative and end-of-life care by community health nursing teams has remained stable over time, despite growing population need.

Conclusion · 2 of 3

Workforce capacity, skill mix and out-of-hours provision need to align to support high-quality, person-centred care in the community.

Conclusion · 3 of 3

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: This evidence informs better planning to ensure sufficient provision and workforce in community health nursing.

Contributions to Palliative and End-of-Life Care by Community Health Nursing Services: Improving Care Through National and Regional Service Evaluations.

Contributions to Palliative and End-of-Life Care by Community Health Nursing Services: Improving Care Through National and Regional Service Evaluations.

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