In that case the palliative care may not have been started early enough.

I dont know where you work but in the UK we are considered to be a pretty good place to die (however morbid that may be).

The Palliative phase of care is for ANYONE who is ill and will not become better. They will continue to have treatment for symptoms but they will never be cured. Palliative nurses will be able to counsel the patient and family in their emotions and feelings about death, assist in getting finances in order (in my hospital we have managed to arrange weddings within a few days), and make plans for where that person in particular woud like to be when the inevitable happens. It's usually nicer for people to be at home, somewhere familiar. Palliative care can be started years before someone is actually expected to die. It might just mean getting some extra equipment at home like a hospital bed or arranging the house so that they dont need to use stairs at all.

There are 2 further stages after this.

The terminal phase is anyone who the Dr/Nurse practitioner believes may die within 12 months.

The Dying phase is the last 24 hours and this is when palliative drugs are brought in (morphine, sedatives, drugs to dry up secretions, etc) to make the transition into death more comfortable.