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The research also found that one in five (17 per cent) of families said their relative had been subject to treatment they would not have wanted. And only 38.6 per cent of relatives said their loved ones had had their pain relieved "completely", while they were being cared for in hospital.

For those who had expressed a preference, most - 81 per cent - had opted to die at home, although only about half (49 per cent) actually did so. Among other locations given for preferred locations to pass away were "on the golf course" and "on the dance floor".

Overall, one in ten (9.1 per cent) said the care across all services in the last three months of life was "poor". A similar proportion (12.6 per cent), said it had been "outstanding", with 31.2 per cent, "excellent". A third (33.5 per cent) said it had been "good", while 13.6 per cent said "fair".

Simon Chapman, from the National Council for Palliative Care said: "Although there are some encouraging findings, this is just the latest in a long line of reports which highlight unacceptable inconsistencies in end of life care, with hospitals once again performing especially badly."

He added: "There's clearly something going very wrong in too many hospitals when it comes to the basic treatment of people who are dying, with 59 per cent of bereaved people reporting that hospital doctors always showed dignity and respect and 52 per cent saying this was the case for hospital nurses.

"The findings from this survey must be the final wake up call for all those involved in end of life care. There needs to be mandatory end of life care training for all health and care staff and more must be done to make excellent end of life care the norm for everyone, wherever they choose to be cared for."

Twenty two thousand families took part in the survey. The deaths covered were of those aged from 18 to 111, although most were over the age of 80. They had all been suffering from cancer, cardiovascular disease or other medical conditions. All deaths occurred at the patient's home, a hospital, a care home or a hospice. Accidents, suicides and murders were excluded.