The speed at which we undertake our jobs in the 21st century allows some of us little time even at year's end to reflect on our victories and challenges over the past 12 months, as well as our priorities for the year to come. This Editorial represented an excellent opportunity to do just that.In October this year we saw the dissemination of the fourth annual report on the End of Life Care Strategy for England and the progress of its implementation (Department of Health (DH), 2012a). Within this document we were reminded of the amazing and innovative work that has been initiated, developed, and embedded into practice over the past 4 years. One of the headlines from the report was that the percentage of people dying in their usual place of residence rather than in hospital is steadily rising. Over 40% of people are now dying at home or in care homes-a significant achievement. The development of Electronic Palliative Care Coordination Systems (EPaCCS) is already contributing to further reductions in hospital deaths, with as many as 80% of people dying in their preferred place where EPaCCS have been established (DH, 2012a).
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