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The Care After Death (4th edition) provides comprehensive guidance for staff who are responsible for supporting the care of a deceased adult in all settings. Contributors include a wide range of senior healthcare professionals.

Care After Death - 4th edition

Comprehensive guidance for staff who are responsible for supporting the care of a deceased adult in all settings.

About this publication

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The need to give personalised compassionate care does not end when the person has died but continues with care after death, including supporting friends and families into bereavement. 

Each death is a uniquely individual experience that reflects many aspects, such as the illness the person has experienced, their personal preferences if a preference could be expressed, and the social, cultural, spiritual, and religious aspects of the person’s life.

Guidance in this document includes:

  • A checklist of actions to undertake, with rationales, following a person’s death.
  • Responsibilities for care after death
  • Personal care after death
  • Education and training
  • Further learning resources 

Authors

Dr Jo Wilson – Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care, Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust

Dr Diane Laverty – Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Theresa Mann – Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care, North London Hospice

Anita Hayes – Head of Learning and Workforce, Hospice UK

Julia Russell – Senior Clinical and Quality Improvement Lead, Hospice UK

Published by Hospice UK in September 2020

Updated by Hospice UK in March 2021, and July 2022.