The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) spoken after a 2016 report found the spiritual wishes of dying patients in England were only documented for one in seven cases - meaning the vast majority of patients could have had their faith or religious desires wholly or partly ignored as they died.
Speaking on Premier's News Hour, Prof Sam Ahmedzai from NICE explained what might be causing this pattern, saying: "It may be that in many of the cases, the patients were just too ill to have that conversation but we found that, in fact, people were only being recognised [as] dying only an average of 36 hours before they did pass away. That's far too late.
"We don't have to wait until they're actually in the last days; we could have that conversation weeks or months earlier but I think a lot of doctors and nurses find it very uncomfortable to open up those discussions."
Now, NICE has urged health and care workers to do more to ensure they take cultural, religious or social preferences of terminally ill patients into account.
A new quality standard from the health watchdog says dying people, and those important to them, should be given an individualised care plan, which should include asking them where they want to be cared for and any spiritual preferences.
Rev Dr Brendan McCarthy, the Church of England's national adviser on medical ethics, added: "This guidance builds on NICE's 2011 recommendations for care at the end of life that highlighted the essential need for spiritual and religious care to be made available to all.
"It is distressing that currently 85% of patients in acute hospitals are not offered this care because their wishes are not sought.
"The new NICE guidelines remind us that we must do better and they underscore the vital role that chaplains play as part of a multi-disciplinary team in delivering holistic care at the end of life."
Prof Sam Ahmedzai also had this advice: "If somebody's religious or spiritual needs require special things to be done, write it down; make sure it's shown to doctors and nurses when you come into hospital. When critical things occur, don't leave it too late."
Click here to listen to Premier's Marcus Jones speaking with Prof Sam Ahmedzai:
