Terminally ill to get more care choice

TERMINALLY ill and elderly patients will be given more choice about the care they receive in the last days of their lives under a new strategy.

NHS Lothian has rubber stamped its 'Living and Dying Well in the Lothians' paper which will bring the changes in over the next five years.

As part of the project, doctors and consultants will work more closely with patients and their families to ensure the most suitable approach in palliative care is taken for each individual.

Prof Alex McMahon, acting director of strategic planning and modernisation for the health board, said: "It is important that, where possible, patients coming to the end of their lives should be able to make the right choices for themselves and their families.

"Many may choose to spend the final days in their own home rather than in an acute hospital and we want to give patients this choice by improving access to end of life care."

It is expected palliative care will become an increasingly prominent issue for the health service in coming years.

The average age of the Lothians population is rising all the time, while people are surviving longer with a range of health complications which years ago would have meant an early death.

It is regarded as one of the toughest budgetary issues facing UK health boards.