Providing compassionate care on the journey towards the end of life generates a number of challenges for the professionals caring for a patient and their family. Many of the issues that cause ethical dilemmas are emotive and can create tension within professional teams and misperceptions amongst the public.
As an organisation, Trinity Hospice and Palliative Care Services has, therefore, decided to make clear position statements on a number of common, challenging ethical dilemmas. These are intended to work as a succinct guide on the issue for members of staff and users of our service.
All the statements take into account:
- Professional guidance from the General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- Professional statements from the Association of Palliative Medicine for Great Britain and Ireland
- Statements from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the Royal College of General Practice (RCGP)
- The current law in England
- Opinions expressed by staff working in our service and the consensus of professionals working in specialist palliative care
- Our assessment of the impact of the statement on patient care across the family of services that make up Trinity Hospice and Palliative Care Services.
The statements cover the following areas
Position Statement on Assisted Dying
Position Statement on advanced care planning
Position Statement on Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation
Position Statement on Information Governance and Confidentiality
Position Statement on life prolonging treatments
Position Statement on the doctrine of double effect
Position Statement on the use of sedating drugs at the end of life