* Improved community services: asking primary care trusts and working with local authorities to ensure that rapid response community nursing services are available in all areas 24/7. This will enable more people to be cared for and die at home if they wish.

* Workforce training and development - to train health and social care professionals in assessing the needs of patients and carers and providing the best possible quality care.

* Development of specialist palliative care outreach services - we will encourage PCTs and hospices to work together to develop specialist services in the community, which will support all adults regardless of their condition.

* Setting up a national End of Life Research initiative - to further understand how best to care for those at the end of their lives.

* Quality Standards - we will work with SHA Next Stage Review End of Life Care leads to develop quality standards against which PCTs and providers can assess themselves and be assessed by regulators.

* Lord Darzi’s Next Stage Review focused on End of Life Care as one of its key pathways, and this strategy follows on from the Review, helping to make that commitment a reality.

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