Background The Irish Hospice Foundation has funded a night-nursing service for people with conditions other than cancer since 2006. The number of people with dementia referred to the service has risen each year since then. The Irish Hospice Foundation carried out an audit of all of the referrals received where people had a diagnosis of dementia between June and December 2015.

Aim The aim was to explore components of care which support a person with dementia who accessed the night nursing service to die at home.

Method Supplementary information from specialist palliative care teams (SPCT) was gathered for 52 dementia referrals to the night-nursing service between May and December 2015.

Results

• The availability of family/friends to provide care to a person with dementia appears to be a key determinant to them staying at home

• Having a supportive GP was important for a large number of the sample.

• The decision to stay at home was made by the person with dementia or their families in over 50% of the sample

• The majority of the sample were referred to specialist palliative care teams in their last week(s) of life

• Access to formal supports and care packages varied throughout the country.

Future plans A report will be made available online with the findings of this audit. This includes recommendations for people with dementia, for family members, for staff and for service planners. Information will also be shared with all of the specialist palliative care teams.