In years gone by, death was a feature of everyday life. There was a much higher mortality rate and people tended to die at home surrounded by their loved ones. If you lived in the Victorian era, it is likely that you would have witnessed several deaths by the time you reached 30.
But the establishment of the National Health Service and great advances in medicine, especially in the last 50 years, have contributed to much longer life expectancies. Many more people die in hospitals and nursing homes than at home.
