Does the ‘Liverpool Care Pathway’ facilitate an improvement in quality of care for dying cancer patients?

Background: The Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP) aims to transfer hospice principles of care for dying patients to other health-care sectors. This post-bereavement survey explored the LCP’s effectiveness in improving quality of care for cancer patients. Methods: Postal self-completion questionnaires were sent to 778 next-of-kin to consecutive deceased patients who had died an ‘expected’ cancer death in a hospice and acute tertiary hospital. Results: Following exclusions ( n =53), 255 of the 725 next-of-kin agreed to participate (35.2% response rate). Overall hospice participants reported the best quality of care, and hospital participants, for whom care was not supported by the LCP, reported the worst quality of care. Multivariate analysis showed the hospice was an independent predictor for patients being treated with dignity (OR 8.46) and receiving adequate family support (OR 7.18) ( P