Applying corpus-based discourse analysis to enhance understanding of barriers to palliative and end of life care provision in general practice.

The population is ageing, and with advances in medical treatments and technology people are living longer, often with increasingly complex, life-limiting multi-morbidity. People die not from one condition, but following a period of chronic illness, and identification of the ‘end of life’ phase is becoming an increasing challenge (NHS England, 2014; Public Health England, 2013; Murtagh et al., 2014). In the UK, the delivery of more equitable, high-quality palliative and end of life care (PEOLC) is an ongoing priority for the National Health Service, with general practitioners (GPs) and the multidisciplinary team (MDT) having a fundamental role in providing medical care for patients dying ‘in the community’, that is, outside of healthcare institutions. Recognized barriers to the provision of good PEOLC include system-wide concerns such as inconsistent use of relevant terminology in policy and practice, as well as front-line clinical practice concerns such as fractured continuity of care. ...