How the End of Life Policy Has Deveopped

1004 Words5 Pages
In this essay I will talk about how the End of life policy has developed and what motivated the change. Firstly I would like to highlight the importance of End of life policies. When people are approaching the end of life they need support to provide more choice about where they would like to live and die.This includes all adults with advanced, progressive illness and care given in all settings(Department of Health. Guidance 16.07.2008). It is important to support people who are nearing the end of life to maintain the best quality of life possible. To support them in having much control over decisions, care and treatment as possible. Good end of life care helps patients with life-limiting conditions to live as well as possible until they die,and to die with dignity. The term "life-limiting" includes organ or systems failure, where patients are likely to die suddenly as a result of an acute crisis ( for example heart failure, chronic respiratory disease). Life threatening acute conditions caused by sudden catastrophic events (for example brain damage from head injury). Progressive conditions such as cancer and dementia and permanent vegetative state and conditions closely resembling this, which cause an irrevocable loss of awareness. The implementation of the end of life care strategy represented an important milestone for health and social care. The expected result is that the quality of end of life care will improve year on year. This strategy was built on the vision and expertise of hundreds of people and organisations from all walks of life. The Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Former Secretary of State for health states " initial work on addressing the challenge of providing high quality end of life care had commenced before the Next Stage Review got underway. The early work was given further shape and strengthened through the participation of the many clinicians who

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