Future Care and Treatment

Your choice of care

If you reach a point where you need assistance on a regular basis, where would you prefer to be cared for?

• At home, in a care home, or in a hospice?
• Are there certain situations in which you’d prefer one option over the other?
• Where would you like to spend your final days and receive end of life care?

Think about the actions you’d like loved ones, carers or healthcare professionals to take on your behalf if you were to lose the mental capacity to make and communicate decisions for yourself.

You can record your wishes in different ways, including:

• An advance statement. This written statement of your wishes, preferences, values and beliefs clarifies how you wish to be looked after. It is not legally binding but should be considered if you lose mental capacity.
• An advanced decision. Sometimes known as a ‘living will’ or an ‘advance decision to refuse treatment’, this is a written statement or spoken document that lets you set out which medical treatments you would refuse in specific situations. If set up correctly, it is legally binding.
• A lasting power of attorney for health and welfare. This legal document gives one or more people you trust (your ‘attorneys’) the authority to make health and care decisions or act on your behalf if you can no longer.

Making your wishes clear gives the best chance of avoiding any future misunderstandings or needless anxiety for the people you care about most.

Additionally, it’s worth recording your decision about organ donation on the NHS Organ Donor Register. Organ donation is an opt-out system – it will be considered that you agree to be an organ donor when you die unless you have recorded a decision not to donate (opted out), or are in an excluded group.

Once you’re happy with your plan, take a moment to not only verbally communicate all your wishes to your loved ones and any carers, but also to write everything down and make sure everyone knows where to find the relevant documents,