NICE has published a draft standard aiming to improve end of life care for children in England

Terminally ill children should have access to around-the-clock homecare, says NICE

It says families who are caring for terminally ill children at home should have 24-hour access to specialist medical support and advice.

Estimates suggest there are close to 40,000 terminally ill children and young people in England.

Research says 68% of families would prefer to spend their final days together at home, and that this desire increases to 80% when the child is thought to be in their last month of life.

However, the 2012 British Social Attitudes Survey found nearly two thirds of people (adults and children) would change their minds about dying at home if sufficient support from family, friends and healthcare staff were not available.

And research from Dying Matters found half of expected deaths currently happen in hospital, despite almost one in three of us saying we would prefer to die at home.