The Department of Health guidance for healthcare organisations on religious belief includes sections on palliative and end of life care, an example of the clear differentiation of the two in the mind of whoever writes things for the DH. Interestingly, this comes from the equalities bit of DH, and is a sign of concern that both staffing and services should respect equalities in religion and belief. Nice to see the belief there, too, it’s not just about religion, but those that don’t indulge. This would not tell anyone involved with palliative care anything new, but useful to know it is there putting forward the importance of end-of-life care again.

The Liverpool Care Pathway gets wheeled out as a good practice example again. This causes me to wonder if anything new and imaginative happening in spiritual care.

Department of Health/ERHG (2009) Religion or belief: A practical guide for the NHS. London DH