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At some time in their careers, all doctors will care for patients who are dying. People in the last year of life access services through health and social care more often, and more frequently, than at any other time of life. Recent Scottish studies confirm that 30% of people in a hospital bed are in the last year of life 1 and that 9% of people in hospital will die during the current period of admission. An even more striking statistic indicates that 50% of all hospital complaints relate to end of life care. 2 Care of the dying as a paradigm for true healthcare Keywords care, dying, end of life care declaration of interests No conflict of interests declared.