LESS than half of terminally ill patients are placed on the Liverpool Care Pathway for dying patients despite it being recommended nationally, according to North-East academics.

The LCP is a model of care which enables healthcare professionals to focus on care in the last hours or days of life when a death is expected.

Durham University researchers - in research published online in the BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care journal - found that in many parts of England, staff may have limited training or support to use the care pathway, which is designed to help healthcare staff provide better and more holistic care for terminally ill patients.

The pathway was jointly developed by the Marie Curie Hospice Liverpool and the Royal Liverpool University Hospitals in 2003 to help healthcare staff when caring for patients dying of cancer in hospitals, but it has been expanded to include all dying patients.

It provides a framework for coordinating care for the last 72 hours of life and standardises the monitoring of patient needs, symptoms and care.

In the UK, the LCP is cited in National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidance as an example of good practice and the Department of Health specifically encourages commissioners and providers to ensure the availability of an end-of-life care pathway in acute hospitals, citing the LCP in particular.

It has been seen by some as controversial and last year stories in the media equated it with euthanasia.

Durham University's Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing set out to review the evidence of the eligibility, uptake and non-uptake of the LCP.

They reviewed studies published between January 1990 and July 2012.

Collectively, 18,052 patients were placed on the LCP, in a variety of inpatient and primary care settings.