Recent government guidance, "End of Life Care Strategy: Promoting High Quality Care for All Adults at the End of Life" and "Guidance on Cancer Services: Improving Supportive and Palliative Care for Adults with Cancer", has raised the profile of end-of-life-care (EOLC). However, historically care has been poorly organised, with large ... and This research paper was commissioned by The King's Fund to inform the panel of the Inquiry into the Quality of General Practice in England. The views expressed are those of the authors and not of the panel.