Background The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) is utilised as a model of best practice in the last hours/days of life, ensuring that patients receive high quality of care tailored to their individual needs

The National Care of the Dying Audit in Hospitals (NCDAH) serves to provide a snapshot of performance against the recommendations of care when patients receive treatment supported by the LCP.

The Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are data driven metrics which illustrate performance of the participating NHS Trusts.

The coded sections within the KPI are divided into red, amber and green and each NHS Trust receives an audit report, benchmarking its service.

Aims The primary aim of the project was to analyse current practice by undertaking an interim audit of 30 LCPs at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in preparation for Round 4 of the NCDAH.

The purpose was to identify any gaps that needed addressing in order to comply with the guidelines for high quality care and to address any issues by ongoing education and support.

Method We analysed 30 sets of case notes of patients whose end–of-life care was supported by the LCP. Using the NCDAH proforma template we examined compliance against the recommendations.

Results Compared with the results of last year's audit we found:

• 4 hourly assessments carried out by staff had increased by 1%

• Discussions around spirituality had increased by 9%

• Medication prescribed on a prn basis had increased by 9%

Results

Conclusion Carrying out an interim audit provided an insight into current practice, highlighting deficits and offering valuable evidence to support ongoing education and training.