New guidelines help patients plan advance care

New guidelines have been launched allowing patients to decide their future health in case they lose their mental capacity.

At present most people claim they want to set out their plans, but patients rarely make specific arrangements or produce documents that allow healthcare professionals to know their choices.

The new national guidelines advance care planning (ACP) are designed to show clinicians how, when and where to discuss these issues with patients.

It also explains how to document choices if the patient wants to record them, particularly if they want to record an advance decision to refuse treatment (ADRT), formerly known as a living will or advance directive.

Those behind the plans claim advance decisions only come into force if someone loses capacity, and do not override the decisions of someone who is still competent to make them.

Janet Davies, executive director of nursing and service delivery at the Royal College of Nursing also commented: “These guidelines will be a useful tool for all healthcare professionals involved in advance care planning, which can be a complex process to navigate.”