Average hospital inpatient costs in last year of life

This study extracted and linked anonymous health and social care data to examine the care history of 16,479 individuals who died in 2007 in three Primary Care Trust (PCT)/local authority areas. Hover over the time points for details of individual measures, and click on the key below the x axis to remove individual lines from the chart.

The research found that on average 30 per cent of the group used some form of local authority-funded social care service in the 12 months prior to death, with a higher uptake in older age groups. This figure shows that there is some evidence across all age groups that higher social care costs at the end of life tend to be associated with lower inpatient costs. This difference is associated with the use of residential and nursing home care.

There are a number of possible explanations for this. Hospital admission may be being avoided by care in a residential setting, or people can be made to feel better able or better supported to cope with an acute crisis without the need for hospital. Alternatively it may be that in some cases people cannot access appropriate hospital care.

This analysis was published in December 2010 in the Nuffield Trust report: Social care and hospital use at the end of life. The techniques used in this analysis marked a significant step forward in information about end of life care.

To find out more about our work in this area visit the Social care and hospital use at the end of life project page.