Many of us will face the moment when someone we love needs end of life care - whether in a care home, at home with support, or in a council-funded placement. How that care is delivered does not just affect the person who is dying: it shapes how their family grieves, and how they remember those final days, for years to come.

Mistakes made at the end of a loved one’s life cannot be corrected. But unlike almost any other public service failure, there is one chance to get it right, and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is today calling on councils and care providers to take that opportunity, every time.

The report, No Second Chances: What Complaints Teach Us About End of Life Care, sets out the most common failures seen in the complaints it receives: poor communication with families, inadequate care plans, services not working together, insensitive handling of death notifications, difficulties around visiting, and unfair charges after death.

Real cases drawn from the ombudsman’s work illustrate the human cost of these failings - families not called in time to say goodbye, a daughter learning of her mother's death before anyone offered condolences, and a woman who discovered her cousin had died over a year earlier, her grave unmarked and overgrown.

The report sets out what families have a right to expect: to be kept informed as a loved one's condition changes; to be treated with warmth and honesty; to have the person they love cared for as an individual, with their own wishes and preferences respected. And when the worst happens, to receive the news with the sensitivity and compassion it deserves.

These things do not require significant extra resources or investment. They simply need more compassion and a human touch. These are acts of basic humanity, and they shape how families grieve for years to come.

Amerdeep Clarke, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

"Most of us will face the death of someone we love. How that experience unfolds – whether we feel informed, included and treated with kindness, or left confused and shut out – becomes part of how we remember that person and how we grieve them. Those memories do not fade.

"We know that the people working in care homes and councils want to do their best for the people they look after. This report is for them. It is a practical guide to help them ask honestly: could every family we work with look back on this time with as much comfort as possible?

"The changes we are asking for do not require significant new investment. They require compassion, good planning, and a genuine commitment to treating every dying person as a human being with people who love them. There is only one chance to get this right. We want to help the sector take it."

The report includes practical guidance and self-review questions for councils and care providers on end of life care.

The Ombudsman also has a free toolkit, to help care providers strengthen their complaints handling more generally. The toolkit can be downloaded from asctoolkit.lgo.org.uk.

Article date: 30 July 2026