Standards for palliative day care
Standards for palliative day care have been prepared by the Association of Palliative Day Care Leaders ( APDCL - 2005 ). It is hoped that these will act as a guide for those managing units and practising in this field and for those setting up a palliative day care service. They reflect the philosophy of the APDCL and we believe are in step with current trends in health care generally and with palliative care.
Download Standards in Palliative Day Care
Originally based on the six components of quality adapted for palliative day care by Kathryn Myers (2001), these standards have been rewritten to fall in line with the Department of Health Standards for Better Health (DoH 2005). These national standards have two objectives, firstly to ensure that health care services across all health care organisations are safe and of an acceptable quality; and to provide a framework for continuous improvement. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidance and National Service Frameworks (NSF’s) link closely with the national standards and the recent publication of the NICE Improving Supportive and Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer (2004) have been considered in the development of these Day Care Standards.
It is acknowledged that palliative day care services are diverse, these standards are intentionally broad and are not intended to be prescriptive.
Other resources
Download a list of day care articles
