Palliative care for people with end-stage non-malignant lung disease.

Progressive non-malignant lung disease (PNMLD) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in the UK. In 1999, chronic lung disease--including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), tuberculosis, pulmonary circulatory disease, pneumonoconiosis, sarcoidosis and cystic fibrosis--killed almost 39,000 (British Thoracic Society, 2000), while it is estimated that 600,000 people in the UK have COPD, the most common non-malignant lung disease (BTS, 2001).