The Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of General Practitioners have published a new charter for end of life care that sets out best practice standards that all patients deserve from their primary health care team.
This charter seven pledges to patients and their families. The pledges aim to help them live as well as they can, for as long as they can. 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 health care teams.
The charter pledges include:
- GPs and their practice teams will do their utmost to ensure a 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
- 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
- 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.