Exeter EM education

This week @London_Trauma System is publishing our Palliative and End of Life Care in Older Trauma Patients best practice guidance. Please share widely! c4ts.qmul.ac.uk/downloads/lm… Key Principles: All healthcare professionals involved in the care of older trauma patients have a responsibility towards the identification and management of an individual’s palliative and end of life care needs. Palliative support for older trauma patients should be provided in conjunction with, and not separate to, best available curative/life-prolonging interventions All older trauma patients should be looked up on local health records to see if they have an advance care pathway Prognostication at the outset can be difficult. Where the appropriateness of clinical interventions is uncertain, ‘time limited trial of treatments’ should be considered, alongside patients wishes and preferences. Effective communication between TUs and MTCs is essential and palliative care referral pathways should be in place within trauma networks to facilitate individualised decision-making. Where specialist services at MTCs are requested to guide treatment options, senior TU clinicians managing the patient should factor in and convey relevant information about a patient’s medical background and personal values, to enable shared decision-making on prognosis, treatment intentions and the best location of ongoing care. Thank you to @TraumaEMC and everyone involved in producing this guidance.