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This issue of our journal is concerned with initiating palliative care. The problem remains that we still lack the evidence that might convince policymakers and colleagues that systematically identify patients for assessment and palliative care planning will turn out well. The question of efficacy of such ambitious programmes has to be posed in relation to the whole population of patients to be screened for palliative care needs. Nikki McCaffrey and David Currow's editorial calls for palliative care researchers to engage with the discipline of health economics. They point out that, in order to justify the cost of palliative care services and provide better outcomes for patients and families, we must generate effective arguments and credible analyses of clinical- and cost-effectiveness.
My editor's choice is a feature by Irene Carey and colleagues, describing the AMBER care bundle; a strong candidate for rigorous evaluation by randomised controlled trial. The aim is laudable, to …