Conference: End of Life Treatment and Care

Carers, patients and clinicians in Edinburgh are to give the General Medical Council (GMC) their views on new guidelines for doctors treating patients at the end of their life.

The event, to be held on Tuesday 19 May at the GMC in Edinburgh is part of a UK wide roadshow to ensure that everyone from doctors to community groups has a chance to have their say on the GMC's draft guidance, End of life treatment and care: good practice in decision making before it is issued to Edinburgh's 4,059 registered doctors* next year.

The event will draw together patient groups, hospice staff and doctors, with separate workshops for Cantonese and Punjabi speaking carers. Topics for debate include:

• providing support to patients, carers and their family
• managing pain and symptoms
• addressing the needs of carers from Edinburgh's black and minority ethnic community
• dealing with advance requests for, and refusals of, treatment.

Anyone can have their say on the consultation. Answer questions online at:  www.gmc-uk.org/end_of_life_care

Jane O'Brien GMC Assistant Director of Standards and Fitness to Practise said:

"We want to encourage everyone to give the GMC their views on this difficult subject which most of us will have to face at some point in our lives, whether as a patient, carer or health professional. We are holding meetings across the UK to ensure that everyone has a chance to have their say on the guidance.

"Every day, patients and carers all over Scotland face making difficult decisions with their doctors about end of life care. Our guidance supports doctors by setting out the ethical and legal principles that should underpin practice in this area and lets patients know what they can expect from their doctor."

Dr David Oxenham from the Marie Curie Hospice Edinburgh said:

"The new guidance is a step forward providing greater clarity for doctors about what is expected of them in this sensitive area of practice. The main message is that the GMC is asking doctors to give greater weight to patients' wishes in a more formal sense than it has done before. Those patients who have strong feelings about how they want themselves or their loved ones to be treated should expect those feelings to be considered.

"For example, if a patient with capacity says that they do not want to receive treatment then their doctor must respect their decision. It is great news that these guidelines have been made clearer on this point."

A spokesperson for MECOPP in Edinburgh (Minority Ethnic Carers of Older People Project) said:

"For people from minority ethnic communities there may be additional concerns.  There may be a lack of knowledge about what constitutes appropriate end of life care or professional assumptions may be unwittingly made because staff are unaware of particular cultural or religious/faith requirements. Many people regard doctors as having higher levels of authority and therefore are not able to question them at the very time when this is most required. Certain illnesses sometimes carry additional stigma and are hard to explain to people without causing additional levels of grief.

As an organisation, MECOPP welcomes the work of the GMC in this very important area."

The guidance is expected to come into force in Spring 2010.

*This is the number of doctors whose registered GMC address is in this area, it is not necessarily the number of doctors in active practice.

For further information please contact the website http://www.gmc-uk.org.

The General Medical Council registers doctors to practise medicine in the UK. Our purpose is summed up in the phrase: Regulating doctors, Ensuring Good Medical Practice.

Edinburgh event details:

19th May 2009

10am to 12.45 pm

GMC Scotland Office

Holyrood Rd

Edinburgh

The GMC is also holding events in Inverness on the 18 May and in Glasgow on 20 May.

GMC consultation:

The online consultation began on the 27 March 2009 and runs until the

13 July 2009.

The consultation will be sent to over 1000 organisations and individuals who are involved in end of life care or represent the views of the profession, patients and those with long term conditions.

As part of the consultation process meetings will be held across the UK to ensure the views of traditionally hard to reach groups are incorporated into the final version of the guidance.

A UK wide consultative conference will be held in June in central London.