Background The palliative care registers were introduced as a quality and outcome framework measure to try to improve the care of people at the end of their life. Research and local experience tells us that the registers are used in very different ways within and between GP practices. Carers frequently tell us about poor coordination of care for people at the end of their life and one of the outcomes within the new NHS outcomes framework to be measured is carers' satisfaction with their loved ones end of life care.

Aims The purpose of this guide is to support GP's to make the palliative care register work for their patients and improve their outcomes in palliative and end of life care. The SHA End of Life Clinical Innovation Team (CIT) and the North of England Cancer Network (NECN) have worked with a number of dedicated clinicians and IT experts to develop the ‘How to Guide’ to support GP's to use their registers effectively. A Rapid Improvement Workshop (RPIW) was held, which is a service improvement method, to look at the process of the palliative care register and gathered data from other parts of the UK to write the guide. In addition, the agreed GP Palliative Care pack will be shared with the national QIPP and End of Life team with the explicit aim of working with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to adopt the process as part of the inspection of GP practices. The pack will be implemented across the SHA and network from October 2010 to all GP practices and an audit of compliance will be completed.

Outcomes It is envisaged that all GP practices will adopt the ‘How to’ Pack and the project team will work with the individual practices to ensure it is embedded in every day practice.