The 5 stages of palliative care
If you’re supporting a loved one with a life-limiting illness or terminal condition, it can be difficult to know where to start or what to prepare for. In this blog, we’ll help you to understand the 5 stages of palliative care.
In this guide you will find:
Understanding palliative care
Stage 1: Creating a personalised care plan
Stage 2: Providing emotional, spiritual and psychological support
Stage 3: Early-stage support
Stage 4: Transitioning to end-of-life care
Stage 5: Supporting family and loved ones
At what stage does palliative care start?
Understanding palliative care
Palliative care is a specialist form of support for those living with a life-limiting or serious illness. It focuses on not only managing the physical symptoms but also on improving emotional well being, offering psychological and spiritual support, and helping individuals and their families navigate what can be a deeply emotional journey.
At Consultus Care and Nursing, we believe life is better at home. For over 60 years, we’ve provided professional, person-centred palliative care in the comfort and familiarity of our client’s homes - where memories, routines and loved ones are close by. We’re here to ensure individuals can live with dignity, comfort and meaning, every step of the way.
Palliative care is typically delivered in stages, each tailored to the evolving needs of the person receiving care. Understanding these stages can offer valuable reassurance and help you feel more informed and prepared.
Stage 1: Creating a personalised care plan
The first stage of palliative care is about listening, thoughtful planning, and placing the individual at the centre of their care. This begins with the creation of a personalised care plan, put together by a multidisciplinary team that typically includes GPs, nurses, occupational therapists, palliative care specialists and family members.
A thorough understanding of the individual's medical needs, daily routines, personal preferences, and future wishes ensures that care is responsive, respectful, and holistic from the start. This includes managing symptoms, pain relief, planning nutritional and personal care needs, and outlining how emotional and spiritual wellbeing will be supported.
Importantly, this stage also offers a valuable opportunity to consider the person’s wishes for the future. Many families choose to explore legal and medical documents that protect these preferences should the individual lose capacity to make decisions themselves in the future. These may include:
Lasting power of attorney (LPA): Appointing someone trusted to make health and welfare decisions on their behalf.
Advance decision to refuse treatment (ADRT): A legally binding statement outlining any treatments they would not wish to receive under certain circumstances.
ReSPECT form (recommended summary plan for emergency care and treatment): A personalised clinical plan created in discussion with healthcare professionals to guide urgent or emergency treatment decisions should they arise.
Discussing these options early in the palliative journey ensures that the person’s voice continues to guide their care, even during difficult or unexpected moments. It also provides families with peace of mind, knowing that everyone involved is on the same page.
Questions to ask at this stage:
Who will be involved in my palliative care?
Which healthcare professionals will be involved, and how often will the care plan be reviewed?
Can I receive palliative care at home?
Stage 2: Providing emotional, spiritual and psychological support
At this stage, the focus expands to include the emotional, psychological and spiritual wellbeing of the individual, recognising the complex and deeply personal impact a life-limiting illness can have.
Alongside tailored clinical and personal care, emotional support becomes an essential element. Many individuals may experience anxiety, sadness, or a sense of loss as their condition progresses. Understanding and responding to these feelings with empathy and reassurance is just as important as managing the physical symptoms.
For some individuals, spiritual or religious support may play an important role. Whether they already practise a particular faith or are exploring religion and spirituality for the first time, your care team will ensure your wishes are met. That might involve arranging visits from a local religious representative, creating time for prayer or reflection, or simply allowing time to discuss life’s deeper questions.
At this stage, it might be useful to consider asking questions like:
Are there any local or virtual support groups that can be accessed?
How can our carer or nurse help support spiritual needs or beliefs?
Stage 3: Early-stage support
Two of the core aims of palliative care are to ensure the person feels comfortable and to promote independence as much as possible. For many, this means receiving palliative care from the comfort of their own home where their routines, belongings and loved ones remain.
Early-stage support focuses on putting the care plan into action, implementing agreed upon strategies to manage symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, difficulty sleeping, and fatigue. Medications will be carefully prescribed and administered, including those related to pain management.
If you’re receiving care at home, practical considerations may be suggested or implemented at this stage, such as modifications to your home. This could include grab rails, ramps and stairlifts, a walk-in shower and more. Funding is available to help pay for modifications such as these. Your local council will typically pay up to £1,000 for minor adjustments to your living environment. For larger modifications, you may qualify for a Disabled Facilities Grant instead, which offers up to £30,000 in England, £36,000 in Wales and £25,000 in Northern Ireland.
Questions to ask at this stage:
What side effects might I experience from my treatment?
What happens if my symptoms change or my condition worsens?
What our clients say
"Consultus Care allowed us to keep our Mum at home following a fall and a hip break. This meant that she had a really good quality of life; her friends could visit her easily. It made a huge difference to her to be in her own surroundings.
The quality of care was excellent throughout."
Alison
Stage 4: Transitioning to end-of-life care
As the condition progresses, the doctor in charge of the care plan may suggest a transition to end-of-life care. At this stage, all effort and priority moves from active treatment to ensuring comfort and dignity in the final months, weeks, or days. The goal is to help an individual pass away peacefully, whilst considering their wishes.
If care is being received at home, the GP will continue to oversee the patient’s care during this time, ensuring that comfort measures are in place and that other symptoms are managed effectively.
At this stage, it may be helpful to ask questions such as:
What is important to me at this stage of my life?
What decisions can I make now to make things easier on my loved ones when I pass?
Stage 5: Supporting family and loved ones
After a loved one passes, it’s natural to feel a deep sense of loss, and many families appreciate continued support in the weeks and months that follow. In this final stage, bereavement support is provided to family members and loved ones. Your care team may provide additional resources to help with the practical steps after someone's passing, as well as connecting you to local support services.
At this time, family members may have questions such as:
What bereavement support services are available for our family?
How can we honour our loved one’s memory?
There are several bereavement charities that can offer support during this difficult period. Cruse Bereavement, The Good Grief Trust, and The National Bereavement Service all offer advice and support related to bereavement. If you need someone to talk to, Marie Curie offers ongoing support over the phone.
At what stage does palliative care start?
Palliative care can begin at any time following the diagnosis of a life-limiting illness - not just in the final days or weeks of life. In fact, many individuals benefit most when palliative care is introduced early, as it allows for better symptom management, more effective emotional support, and time to make informed decisions about future care. You can learn more about when palliative care should start in our guide: When should palliative care be offered?
Whether you or a loved one are facing a new diagnosis, or are already living with an advanced condition, our team is here to help you understand your options and support you in making the choices that feel right for your situation.
Why choose Consultus Care and Nursing?
One of the longest-established and most trusted providers
Founded in 1962, we have always been innovators in live-in care and live-in nursing. With over 60 years’ experience, we are one of the country’s longest-established, most highly recommended and experienced providers.
Unrivalled choice and control over your care
We understand that every person’s needs are different and every family’s situation is unique. With our choice of fully managed live-in care and nursing, and our introductory service, we offer more flexibility and personalisation than any other provider.
Highly trained nurses and carers
We are nationally recognised for the quality of our nurses and carers. With market-leading training, delivered at our own, multi-award-winning training centre (a Skills for Care Centre of Excellence), they provide exemplary, compassionate care tailored to individual needs, offering total peace of mind for clients and their families.
Expert care and support, dedicated to you
Our Care Consultants oversee our nursing and managed care services supporting only a small number of families. This means our service is truly personal, with unrivalled support and continuity of care. Reassurance that we are there when you need us most.
Family-founded, family-owned
We continue to be a family-owned and family-managed business. The largest wholly family-owned live-in care provider in the UK, we focus on what our clients and their families need from a high-quality care service, not on meeting investors’ expectations.
How to arrange live-in care
Speak to a Care Advisor
Our friendly, expert Care Advisors are here to guide you through your options, answer your important questions, whilst providing support along the way.
Care assessment
If you would like our managed live-in care service, a Care Consultant local to you, will complete a free assessment of your needs in your home.
Care starts
A fully trained carer will be carefully matched to meet your needs, and will start to provide our high-quality service in your home.
Live-in nursing FAQs
Live-in nursing is specialist form of care and support, where a registered nurse resides in your home to provide one-to-one medical care around-the-clock. Our live-in nursing service means you can avoid a prolonged stay in hospital or a disruptive move to a nursing home or hospice to get the specialist care you need. Our live-in nurses are qualified and trained to provide support with medical conditions and chronic health concerns, recovery and rehabilitation following surgery, and sensitive and compassionate end-of-life care.
Live-in nursing is suitable for individuals, or couples with complex medical conditions, such as:
Acute medical needs requiring clinical supervision
Post-surgical care and rehabilitation
Chronic illness and disease management
Neurological conditions, such as dementia and Parkinson’s
Palliative and end-of-life care
Recovery support following a hospital stay to transition back into daily life
All our nurses are thoroughly vetted through a rigorous process, including:
Right-to-Work and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
Registration verification with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Employment reference checks to ensure a minimum or three years post-registration experience in an acute, community or palliative care setting
Face-to-face interviews to assess suitability, professionalism and compassion.
Whilst we provide you with a couple of nurse profiles to review, our experienced Nurse Consultants will recommend the best match based on your specific needs and preferences. We have over 60 years’ experience of matching suitable nurses that meet our clients’ needs to ensure they have the right level of nursing care.
A live-in nurse typically works from 8am to 8pm, with a two-hour break during the day.
A live-in nurse can provide up to two-night calls per night, which are chargeable. If you require more frequent nighttime assistance, your dedicated Nurse Consultant will review your nursing needs, and we may recommend a dedicated night carer, or nurse.
You’ll need to provide a private bedroom with basic amenities, including a bed and somewhere to store their clothes. They need to have access to a bathroom, but this does not need to be a dedicated bathroom. Nurses will also need access to WIFI to enable them to communicate and complete administration tasks. Most families provide food for our nurse, but if this is not possible, we ask for an £8 per day allowance if the nurse needs to make their own provision.
Our live-in nursing service is highly flexible. Care plans are regularly reviewed by your nurse and dedicated Nurse Consultant to ensure it accurately reflects the clinical support you require working closely with healthcare professionals involved in your care.
Nurses are trained to respond effectively to emergencies, such as contacting emergency services, notifying family members, and following agreed protocols to ensure your safety. Our live-in nursing service is fully managed, so you have around-the-clock emergency support from our office-based nursing team.
The minimum booking for our live-in nursing service is four days.
Live-in nursing can typically be arranged within 24-48 hours, depending on the complexity of your needs.
Live-in nursing care costs from £2,780 per week, subject to an assessment of you or your loved one’s needs.
When considering funding live-in nursing, it is worth noting that in the UK, healthcare is provided free at the point of delivery. If you need live-in nursing at home due to an identified health care need, you may be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding. This funding is managed and provided by your local Integrated Care Board (ICB), formerly the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). This funding covers the treatment, management or prevention of diseases, illnesses, injuries or disabilities, as well as aftercare those living with these conditions. At Consultus Care and Nursing, our Nursing Co-ordinators are here to guide you through your options, so you can make the right choice for you or your loved one.
It starts with a friendly discussion with a member of our experienced Care Advisory team who will talk through your requirements and expectations and guide you as to the suitability of our services. Should you wish to proceed, a Nurse Co-ordinator will discuss with you, and your family and other healthcare professionals involved in your care, your specific healthcare needs to ensure we match you with the perfect nurse to meet your needs. Once the contractual paperwork is concluded a service start date is agreed.
Looking for care?
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