Terminally ill to give GPs care orders

DYING patients will be able to give their doctors detailed plans for the care they want towards the end of their life, under new proposals.

The General Medical Council has issued guidance to GPs across the Lothians as part of plans to improve palliative care across Scotland.

It means patients would be able to say in advance if they wanted to refuse a certain treatment and felt they might not be in a position to articulate this later.

The move has been welcomed by medical experts across the country, who hailed it as an important step in moving end-of-life care forward.

Health chiefs have long been keen to set agreements between patients and doctors, especially as people live much longer with a range of health problems.

Dr David Oxenham, the medical director at the Marie Curie Hospice in Fairmilehead, said: "Everyone is entitled to good care towards the end of life, and this guidance is right to emphasise that effective communication underpins good care.

"Patients and families really value doctors who understand the issues involved and can apply them to specific situations."