This fact sheet focuses on issues when caring for a patient in the last days of life.

Advance care planning is a process of discussing, determining and documenting a person’s preferences for their future care in the event they become unable to make and communicate decisions about their care. Advance care planning is commonly associated with end-of-life care, however, it is also useful for patients with physical, or cognitive impairment or mental illness which could affect their capacity for decision making.

Advance care planning is a process of discussing, determining and documenting a person’s preferences for their future care should they be unable to make and communicate decisions. Advance care planning can benefit patients, their families and carers, clinicians and health service organisations. They support clinicians with respect to clinical treatment and comprehensive care plans, goals of care, and limitations of medical treatment.

The primary aims of the audit and clinician surveys are to:

• Compare the patterns of end-of-life care practice in four different cohorts
• Compare the perceptions of health care professionals (nursing, consultant, junior doctor and allied health) in their ability to recognise dying and their self-reporting of other health professionals’ ability at end-of-life care practice. 

Organisations are able to tailor their survey to their individual needs. It is recommended that sites create their clinician survey using an online survey tool. The Commission has reproduced the clinician surveys in Survey Monkey, and is able to send this version to any holder of a Survey Monkey Pro account. Users can then adapt the survey if they wish to do so. To request a copy please fill out the request form.

The clinician survey should be used in conjunction with the data dictionary.