A new campaign by the Dying Matters Coalition is encouraging GPs to identify the 1% of their patients who are entering their last year of life.

The Find Your 1% project aims to promote discussion of end-of-life care in order to increase the number of people dying at home. A report released last year by the National End of Life Intelligence Network showed that whilst over 60% of people would prefer to die in their own home, only around 20% actually are.

A key goal of the campaign is to encourage people to think about where they would like to die, as well as to empower them to tell their carers and loved-ones where they would like to spend their final days.

In order to recognise individuals who may benefit from the scheme, GPs are urged to ask themselves the question “Would I be surprised if this person were to die in the next 12 months?” during routine consultations with patients.

However, accurately predicting someone’s life expectancy at any given age is generally very difficult (particularly if they haven’t been diagnosed with a serious illness) and some commentators, including Northumberland LMC secretary Dr Jane Lothian, have suggested that the ‘somewhat arbitrary’ selection of patients may be ethically unsound.

Find out more about the campaign here.