“HEARTBREAKING” end-of-life care failings highlighted in a new report show an urgent need for the NHS to work with hospices, Bolton Hospice bosses say.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman says thousands of patients are dying without dignity each year due to care breaches.

The ombudsman, which makes the final decisions about NHS complaints in England, has revealed a catalogue of failings in its ‘Dying without dignity’ report.

These include an elderly patient who spent his last days in avoidable agony and a family who only found out their relative had terminal cancer by reading his medical notes.

Chiefs at the ombudsman say cases like these, where dying patients’ suffering could easily have been avoided or lessened, cause “unimaginable anguish” for loved ones.

They said there were too many instances of poor communication leading to families losing the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones, ineffective pain management, diagnosis and referral delays and inadequate out-of-hours services.

Bosses at Bolton Hospice have described the care failures the report highlights as “distressing” – and say it highlights an urgent need for the NHS to work with hospices.

Dr Leigh Vallance, chief executive of Bolton Hospice, said: “Patients and their families deserve nothing less than compassionate, personalised care that meets their needs.

“Patients should be given the opportunity to make a plan of care in advance, which takes account of their wishes and is respected by health, social care and all other services.

“It is our vision for everyone in our diverse community with life-limiting illnesses to have equal access to excellent specialist palliative and end of life care.

“This report highlights the urgent need for NHS colleagues to work with hospices nationally to make this possible.”

A spokesman for the hospice added: “Collaboration and partnership working are key to good end of life care, which should be based on each individual patient’s needs and wishes.

“Examples of when this has not been the case and when it has been too late are heartbreaking to read.”

At Bolton Hospice – which provides specialist palliative and end of life care – families can visit patients 24 hours a day and be informed in decisions which affect their care.

Ombudsman Julie Mellor said the NHS should consider the Dying without dignity report to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

She said: “Our investigations have found that patients have spent their last days in unnecessary pain, people have wrongly been denied their wish to die at home and that poor communication between NHS staff and families has meant that people were unable to say goodbye to their loved ones.”

An NHS England spokesman said: "This powerful report echoes the need for changes that were recently set out in the NHS' Actions For End Of Life Care to ensure that people get the support they need to live well and die according to their wishes."