Regulating doctors, ensuring good medical practice

End of life care: Reviewing decisions

  1. 78. A patient’s condition may improve unexpectedly, or may not progress as anticipated, or their views about the benefits, burdens and risks of treatment may change over time. You should make sure that there are clear arrangements in place to review decisions.xii New decisions about starting or continuing with a treatment may be needed in the light of changes in the patient’s condition and circumstances, and it may be necessary to seek a second opinion or, if this is not possible, advice from an experienced colleague.

 

References

xii Structured decision making and review of a patient’s care in the last days of life can be supported by tools such as the Liverpool Care Pathway and National End of Life Care Programme; and the All Wales Care Pathway for the Last days of Life, Welsh Assembly Government, in Welsh Health Circular (2006) 030.

 

Download the guidance