Outside of palliative care policy, policies impacting on care for people with advanced chronic disease do not treat end of life care as a priority. However, the growing num-bers of people requiring end of life care dictate the need for health policies to prioritise this aspect of care. Whilst palliative care principles and expertise can inform a model of care for people with advanced chronic disease, it is not clear that an actual referral to a palliative care service will provide the most appropriate care.