David Oliver: Public misunderstanding, myths, and misinformation can hamper good end-of-life care
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill,1 which aims to legalise medically assisted dying in England and Wales, has brought greater public and political attention to palliative and end-of-life care. There’s a groundswell of support to ensure that more people nearing end stage illness and death receive skilled, compassionate care and more consistently experience a good death, for them and their loved ones. The public conversation and reports on current experiences of people who are dying often focus on professionals over-medicalising the end of life, over-treating, being too reluctant to move towards palliative approaches, and failing to provide adequate symptom relief, dignity, or personal care.23 We see this in the narratives of those who support legalising assisted dying—graphically describing distressing experiences for a patient’s family and friends, even when receiving formal palliative care. There’s also major variation around the country and between different populations in
