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Aim to help patients leave a clear record of how they'd like to be treated in the days before their death
The Royal College of GPs and Royal College of Nursing have produced a charter for terminally ill patients.
The two organisations said it needed to be created to help patients leave a clear record of how they'd like to be treated in the days before their death.
A key pledge in the seven-point charter, which the Daily Telegraph said would be unveiled today, is that doctors and nurses will "assist you to record your decisions and do our best to ensure that your wishes are fulfilled, wherever possible, by all those who offer you care and support".
Two other points deal with helping patients to express their wishes clearly and write them down, saying doctors and nurses should "ensure clear written communication of your needs and wishes to those who offer you care".
The organisations behind the charter say that it is necessary because medical staff who have been caring for the terminally ill throughout their final days may not be there right at the end of the patient's life. Keeping a clear record of the patient's wishes means that they would be respected. Dr Clare Gerada, chair of the RCGPs, said: "Care seems to break down at the very end. So often a GP has looked after someone really well, and then they are not there."
One example of this could be a patient who suddenly takes a turn for the worse and is rushed to hospital. With the charter, they would have a written record of their wishes and would not have to rely on having someone who knew them to pass on the message.
The charter will, in part, provide a means for the patient to clearly indicate whether or not they wish to be resuscitated.
But Gerada dismissed the claims made by some anti-euthanasia campaigners that the charter was a means by which GPs could skirt around laws on assisted suicide.
She said the RCGP's position was still that there should be no change in the law. In 2009, the RCN adopted a neutral stance, neither opposing nor pushing for a change.
Some 8,500 doctors' surgeries across England will have the charter on display.
