Background Isle of Man (IOM) is a crown dependency with 83,000 residents. To provide an evidence-base for the strategy on person-centred, palliative and end of life care, Hospice Isle of Man carried out a needs assessment. Typically this involves quantitative and qualitative data describing services and identifying gaps. Many data sources used for this purpose in the UK (e.g. Hospice UK’s PopNAT) are not available in the IOM so we compensated by extensive engagement with those working in relevant services and organisations as well as the public.

Aim To carry out a needs assessment on palliative and end of life care.

Methods Population demographics and weekly death data were processed to enable predictions of need for palliative and end of life care. Interviews were carried out with over 60 representatives of services and organisations involved in care for those with life limiting conditions, in elderly care, end of life or bereavement support. The questions were: ‘What works well?’, ‘What does not work well?’, ‘What are the gaps?’ and ‘What might be solutions?’ in palliative and end of life care. Adult members of the public, schoolchildren and college students were asked what would matter to them if using Hospice services to ensure a focus on person-centred care.

Results We discovered that the hospice was probably reaching around half of those who could benefit but users were very positive about it. Passion for Island services, but frustration with aspects of the system, was identified among professionals and some disjointedness among third sector groups. The majority of the data are currently being analysed and will be presented at Hospice UK’s 2019 conference.

Conclusion Expert views of those working in the services and charities, supplemented by person-centred perceptions of the public and available data are shedding necessary light on the Island’s needs for palliative and end of life care.

(Support provided by Manx Lottery Trust)