23.03.12
Doctors need support to improve end of life care
Care given to patients at the end of their lives must improve, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has said. In a recent report, they suggest that all hospital doctors should be supported, through professional development programmes, to improve care for these patients.
Doctors should promptly discuss options with patients and carers in order to consider their priorities for care. Research showed that doctors had the least confidence when dealing with advance care planning for older people.
Only a third of the 2,000 doctors surveyed had attended any learning event on end of life care in the last five years. The RCP argues that trusts must support this type of training for all healthcare staff.
Dr Fiona Hicks, consultant in palliative medicine and chair of the RCP’s working party on improving end of life care said: “While doctors always aim to do their best for their patients, for a variety of reasons, some physicians are not delivering the best care in the last phase of life. A quarter of a million people die in hospitals inEnglandevery year. All physicians must be supported to improve their skills in caring for patients facing the end of life.”
Dr Linda Patterson, clinical vice president of the RCP said: “Patients are often at their most vulnerable when facing the end of their lives. At this time, patients need care and compassion. Physicians must be able to facilitate shared decisions with patients when possible, and wherever possible ensure that patient’s preferences are met.”
Claire Henry, director of the National End of Life Care Programme, said: “This working party report has excellent useful tools for physicians and managers to use. It complements our extensive transforming end of life care in acute hospitals initiative and corresponding ‘how to’ guide which was published in February. I urge all physicians that care for people who are dying, not just palliative care doctors, to use these tools in their everyday work.”
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