Around 600,000 people a year need it.
Around 600,000 people who die each year in the UK need palliative care, an estimated 90% of all deaths (Marie Curie, 2023). This is not a rare or specialist need; it is something almost every family will face.
Day & night coverSleeping & waking nights
Palliative care
Palliative care at home in Surrey.
Gentle support, day and night.
Gentle, skilled palliative care at home across Surrey, in the place your relative knows best, working alongside the nurses, doctors and hospice teams already involved, day and night.
CQC rated Good
Care within 24 to 48 hours
Day & night cover
Working alongside · District nurses & hospice teams
“Aims Homecare are absolutely fantastic.” — Frances E, verified review, homecare.co.uk
Palliative care at home
Palliative care that makes home possible.
Asked in advance, most people say they would rather spend their final weeks and months in their own home: in their own bed, among their own things, with family close by. With the right support around the clock, that wish can usually be met. Our carers provide the steady practical and emotional care that keeps your relative comfortable at home, and keeps you close by, across Surrey.
Why good palliative care matters
The need for palliative care nationally.
Where people would prefer to be cared for.
Of people who expressed a preference, 79% said they would prefer to die at home, yet only half of those who wanted to die at home actually did, and 35% died in hospital instead (ONS National Survey of Bereaved People). The right support at home is what narrows that gap.
Funding need not be the barrier.
Fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare can fund palliative and end-of-life care at home in full. It is not means-tested, and decisions often come within days. We help families apply, and many pay nothing for their care as a result.
What's included
What palliative care at home includes.
Every care plan is shaped around your relative's wishes and around the guidance the nurses and doctors give. Typical support includes the following.
Personal care & comfort
Carers assist with washing, dressing and freshening up, gently and with dignity.
Medication support
Prompts and support alongside the district nurse's plan for pain and symptom relief.
Repositioning & pressure-area care
Carers reposition regularly and carefully to protect the skin and keep rest comfortable.
Night care
Sleeping or waking nights, so that the family can rest knowing someone is there.
Meal & fluid support
Small, appealing meals and gentle encouragement with drinks, at their own pace.
Companionship & a calm presence
A steady, reassuring presence: someone to sit with, to talk to, or simply to be near.
Practical housekeeping
Laundry, fresh bedding and a calm, tidy home, which is one less thing for the family to carry.
Emotional support for family
We support the family as well, with honesty, kindness and time.
Spiritual & cultural wishes
Faith, rituals and traditions are respected and accommodated as your family wishes.
Part of a wider team
Working with the professionals around you.
Good end of life care depends on several teams working together. Our carers do not replace the clinical teams; they work alongside them each day and make sure nothing falls between services.
GPs and district nursing teams.
We follow the care and medication plans your GP and district nursing team set, report changes promptly, and make sure their visits are expected and prepared for.
Hospice and Marie Curie teams.
Many of the families we support also have hospice-at-home or Marie Curie support. We coordinate with those teams so that care is continuous, consistent and never duplicated.
Fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare funding.
End-of-life care often qualifies for fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare, funding that covers care in full and is not means-tested. We help families apply, and many pay nothing for their care as a result.
Palliative care at home
from £28/hour
Sleeping nights from £150 per night, waking nights from £29 per hour, live-in care from £225 per 24 hours (around £1,575/week). Every price is a "from" rate, and your exact quote is confirmed after a free physical assessment at your loved one's home. Same rates 7 days a week, with no weekend or bank-holiday premiums. Fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare often covers palliative care in full, and we will help you apply. There are no call-out fees and no hidden charges.
The evidence
What the national figures actually show.
Asked in the calm of an ordinary day, most people say they would want to be at home. The national figures show how few are. The gap is rarely caused by families changing their minds; it is usually caused by there being nobody in the house at three in the morning.
Preference compared with actual outcomes.
What UK adults say they want, set against where people actually died in England
Sources: 56% of 10,500 UK adults chose home as their preferred place of death; 22% had no preference, 8% chose a hospice, 6% hospital and 3% a care home (Marie Curie, Public attitudes to death, dying and bereavement in the UK re-visited, 2024, reporting the PADDUK 2023 survey). Of the 530,177 people who died in England in 2024, 28.1% died at home, 42.3% in hospital, 21.5% in a care home, 5.5% in a hospice and 2.6% elsewhere (Department of Health & Social Care, Palliative and end of life care factsheet: Patterns of care, England 2024). An honest caveat: these are two different populations measured in two different ways: what the public says in advance, against what actually happened. It shows the size of the gap, not a like-for-like comparison. Preferences also shift with illness: among people who considered themselves in their last years of life, 42% chose home and 20% chose a hospice.
What actually closes that gap.
Very few people are admitted to hospital at the end of life because anyone wanted it. It happens because a symptom flares overnight, because a family carer is exhausted beyond what is safe, or because nobody present feels confident enough to manage a difficult hour alone, so calling 999 becomes the only remaining option. Almost every one of those moments is a staffing problem before it is a medical one. A continuous, skilled presence in the house is what turns a crisis at three in the morning into a manageable night.
How we help families stay at home.
We place a familiar carer in the home for the hours you need, whether that is visiting, overnight or live-in, working alongside the district nurses, the GP and the community palliative care team rather than in place of them. Carers prompt and support prescribed medication on time, keep records the nurses can act on, watch for changes in pain, breathing and comfort, and contact the right person early rather than late. Fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare often covers this in full and can be decided within days, and we help families apply. Where a family wishes their relative to remain at home, the practical answer is usually someone being present, and that can be arranged.
The moments that matter.We take on the tasks, so that you can look after each other.
Why families choose us
Time to be together as a family.
When you are the person managing the lifting, the medication and the broken nights, it is difficult to be anything else. When our carers take on the practical care, you can be the daughter, the son or the husband again rather than the nurse.
- Carers handle personal care, meals and nights
- You spend your energy on time together
- A small, consistent team your loved one knows
- Someone to call, day or night, who knows you
How it begins
How to arrange palliative care at home.
1
A first, quiet conversation.
Call our Surrey care team and tell us what is happening. We will listen and explain what is possible, including funding.
2
A free assessment at home.
We visit at home, in hospital or at the hospice, and speak with the nurses and the family together.
3
A plan built around their wishes.
Comfort, routines, faith and family time, written down clearly, alongside the clinical plan.
4
Care begins and is reviewed often.
Care usually begins within 24 to 48 hours. We review frequently and adjust quickly as needs change.
When time matters, care can begin within 24 to 48 hours, and sometimes sooner.
"Aims Homecare are absolutely fantastic."
Noted the smooth transition between carers, and the manager's attentiveness throughout his father's care.
Rated 9.3/10 from 50 reviews. Read all our verified reviews on homecare.co.uk.
Palliative care questions
Common questions about palliative care.
Usually within 24 to 48 hours of your free assessment, and we prioritise end of life referrals. If your relative is waiting to come home from hospital or a hospice, we can assess them there so that care is in place on the day they return.
Yes. This is how most of our palliative care works. We coordinate with hospice-at-home services, Marie Curie nurses, district nurses and GPs, following the clinical plan they set and keeping everyone informed. You do not have to coordinate the different teams; we do that with them.
We provide both sleeping nights (a carer stays and is on hand if needed, from £150 per night) and waking nights (a carer stays awake throughout for repositioning, medication and comfort, from £29 per hour). Both run 10pm to 7am, both are "from" rates confirmed at your free home assessment, and the same rates apply 7 days a week. Many families tell us that night cover is what finally allows them to sleep, knowing someone calm and capable is present. See our night care service for more.
NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) fully funds care when someone's needs are primarily health-related, and it is not means-tested. For people who are approaching the end of life, there is a fast-track application that a GP, consultant or nurse can complete, with funding often agreed within days. End-of-life care frequently qualifies, and when it does, care at home is covered in full. We help families through the application, and you can ask us about it at your assessment.
Yes. Carers supporting end-of-life care are chosen for their experience and their temperament: calm, patient and unafraid of the hard moments. All are DBS-checked, trained in personal care, moving and handling and medication support, and supervised by our Registered Manager throughout. Every Aims carer wears our green uniform, so you always know who is at the door.
They often do, and our plans are built for that. Visits can increase, nights can be added and care can step up to live-in care at short notice, usually within a day or two. You will not need to start again with a new provider at the most difficult time.
Yes. Our involvement does not simply stop. In the days after a death we help families with the practical arrangements, and our office team, who will have come to know you, remain at the end of the telephone. Many families stay in touch long afterwards.
Related services
Other home care services we provide.
Local to you
Palliative and end-of-life care at home across Surrey.
Aims Homecare has supported families through end-of-life care for more than 15 years, from our office on Kingston Road in Leatherhead. Our carers provide palliative care at home in Surrey, end-of-life care and hospice-at-home support alongside clinical teams. Because we are a local team rather than a national franchise, the same small team of carers visits throughout, supported by a Surrey office who answer the telephone themselves, day or night. Palliative home care starts from £28 per hour, with sleeping nights from £150 per night, waking nights from £29 per hour and live-in care from £225 per 24 hours (around £1,575 per week), every price a "from" rate, confirmed after a free physical assessment at home, with the same rates 7 days a week; fast-track NHS Continuing Healthcare often covers end-of-life care in full, and we help families apply. See our home care pricing for details.
Palliative care rarely stands alone. Many families combine daytime visits with overnight care so everyone can rest, or move to live-in care as needs grow. Whether you are bringing a parent home from hospital in Surrey, working with a hospice team, or would like someone kind beside your husband or wife through the night, it begins with one quiet conversation. Call us on 01372 386222 whenever you are ready.