RCGP and RCN publish Patient Charter for End of Life Care
Published: 01 June 2011
The Royal College of General Practitioners and Royal College of Nursing have released a new Charter for End of Life Care that marks out an ideal of best practice that all patients deserve from their primary healthcare team.
Launched today, the End of Life Care Patient Charter, produced by the RCGP and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) makes seven pledges to patients reaching the end of their life – and their families – in order to help them live as well as they can, for as long as they can, including:
• That GPs and their practice teams will do their utmost to ensure the patient’s remaining days and nights are as comfortable as possible, and that they receive all the particular specialist care and emotional and spiritual support they need.
• That the primary care team will do all they can to help the patient preserve their independence, dignity and sense of personal control throughout the course of their illness.
• That the primary care team will support those close to the patient, both as the patient approaches the end of their life and through their bereavement.
The Charter is the result of collaborative work between patients, nurses, GPs, specialists and others from health and social care, and it will be revised over time based on feedback from patients, carers and primary healthcare teams.
A copy of the Charter will be sent to 8,500 GP Practices across England, to be displayed where patients can see them, and a guidance document, which explains seven pledges in greater detail, will soon be available through the RCGP website. The new RCGP End of Life Care microsite is to be launched shortly.
A letter from Professor Keri Thomas, RCGP Clinical Champion for End of Life Care, Lynn Young, Primary Care Lead at the RCN, and Antony Chuter and Barbara Pendleton, from the RCGP Patient Partnership Group, has also been sent to practices, offering practical guidance for GP surgeries including advice on discussing the Charter as a primary healthcare team, and encouraging feedback from patient groups, patients and carers.
RCGP Chair Dr Clare Gerada said:
"I am proud of the care that GPs provide to patients at their end of life, and this Charter will ensure that patients can die with dignity, at the place of their choice. I am indebted to Professor Thomas, colleagues and patients who have contributed to this fantastic work. It will provide great reassurance and support to doctors as well as to patients, their families and friends."
RCGP Clinical Champion for End of Life Care Professor Keri Thomas said:
“GPs and their teams have a special relationship not just with their patients but with the people close to them, all of whom need special care and support through the process of dying.
“We have the ability to co-ordinate good care and to help reduce some of the worry and stress when a loved one is approaching the end of their life. We hope the Charter will be an invaluable means of encouraging and supporting best care for our patients nearing the end of life.”
NHS Clinical Director for End of Life Care Professor Mike Richards said:
“GPs are often best placed to identify people who are approaching the end of life and to initiate discussions with them about their priorities and preferences for care. They have a central role in the provision of end of life care”
Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing said:
“The RCN has worked hard alongside the RCGP to build this charter, and we hope that it will assist people at the end of their lives including those who die at home - if that is what they and their carers want. Primary care teams are well placed to promote an exemplary standard of end-of-life care. This charter clearly describes what patients and carers should expect as people are nearing the end of their life, as well as providing a framework for the staff providing that care. The RCN also hopes that the charter will improve team working between nurses who work in the community and their colleagues based in general practice. There is no doubt that the provision of end of life services have been significantly improved in recent years, however there is still a long way to go before we can be confident that people always receive the best possible care. The RCGP/RCN charter will be a catalyst for further improvement.”
Baroness Julia Cumberlege said:
“Providing end of life care is one of the most important and challenging tasks that GPs and their teams face; patients and their families want and deserve to influence the care they receive and the decisions made about where and how they die.
“GPs and their teams have the best interests of their patients at heart. This new Patient Charter represents an agreement between GPs and their patients that, when the time comes to have the difficult conversations about end of life care, they will be conducted with the utmost respect for the patient’s wishes.”
RCGP Patient Partnership Group Chair Antony Chuter said:
“This new Patient Charter is an excellent step in strengthening the already vital relationship between patients and their GP.
“The end of life is an incredibly difficult time, not only for the patient, but for their families and loved ones. It is important that the patient’s dignity and sense of control over their treatment is fully respected, that their emotional and clinical needs are met, and that the needs of the ones left behind when the patient dies are dealt with sensitively and appropriately.”
National Council for Palliative Care Chair Professor Mayur Lakhani said:
“We need to do more to meet people's wishes and needs at the end of life. Someone dies in Britain every minute.
“As a practising GP, I know how important the role of the primary care health teams is in palliative care. Research clearly shows that patients who are dying want support from their GP, and GPs also agree that this is an important role for them. This is why I welcome this charter. By implementing it, we can all make 'living and dying well' the norm. I particularly welcome the suggestion of working with patient partnership groups, which would support the work of the Dying Matters Coalition aimed at changing attitudes to death dying and bereavement.”
ENDS
FURTHER INFORMATION
RCGP Press office – 020 3188 7574/7575/7576
Out of hours: 07885 958 632
press@rcgp.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of over 42,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.