When faced with a diagnosis that is not curable some individuals wish to take the opportunity to plan ahead for the sake of loved ones, by expressing their wishes for their own care in the future if a time comes when they are unable to choose for themselves. 

You may have heard of ‘living wills’ or ‘advance directives’ which are terms used to describe documents in which people put their wishes for future care in writing. 

At St Wilfrid’s we put a large emphasis on the patient being the centre of any plan of care and encourage the process of Advance Care Planning. The process is described in the booklet attached, which is also available from the Hospice.

The process of advance care planning is very much patient led and may involve you doing nothing more than thinking about the future or discussing your thoughts with a loved one or professional.  For some it is helpful to write down some of your wishes and St Wilfrid's Hospice, along with local health and social care partners, have adapted a Planning Ahead document to assist you and provide forms that you may wish to use.  You can download the whole document here or use the links to the right of this page to download individual sections.
 
Steps in advance care planning:

• Preferred Priorities of Care (or Advance Statement of wishes)
  o  This is an opportunity to say what you would like to happen with your care as you approach the end of life.  Where you are cared for or who is there with you may be very important.  You may of course change your mind and this is absolutely fine. If you document any wishes they will only be acted on if you are unable to express your wishes at the time.

• Putting your affairs in order
  o  There is a checklist which you may find helpful to help sort out financial issues etc at what can be a stressful time  You may wish to plan ahead to help your loved ones  in the future.
 

• Appointing someone to make decisions for you in the future.

o  There are  legal steps that can be taken to appoint someone to act in your best interests if you lose the capacity to make decisions yourself.  A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) can be appointed for personal welfare or property and affairs.  Further information can be obtained from www.publicguardian.gov.uk .  Not everyone needs an LPA, and the clinical staff at St Wilfrid’s will always endeavour to speak to those closest to you with your prior permission to help ensure your best interests are met in the rare occasions you cannot do this yourself.

• Writing an advance decision (to refuse treatment)
  o  In the UK anyone with capacity to make an informed decision has the right to refuse any treatment offered to them. If you feel strongly enough about not wanting a specific treatment in the future you can make a refusal in advance of specific situations in case you are unable to express your wish at the time.  You will need to write this down and we advise you have assistance from an experienced healthcare professional who knows you and your case well.

We hope you find this page informative and helpful. If you wish to discuss any aspect of advance care planning in more detail, and are a patient of ours, you can speak to a member of staff caring for you.  If you are not currently a patient of St Wilfrid’s Hospice it may be someone involved in your care can guide you through the process if you wish. However, do feel free to contact us for advice.

Helpful links
www.adrtnhs.co.uk
www.endoflifecareforadults.nhs.uk
www.dyingmatters.org
www.publicguardian.gov.uk