Doctors need to get better at having difficult conversations with dying patients and not just in their final days, according to a report from the Royal College of Physicians.
It says doctors should talk to people who could die within 12 months, who may be frail or terminally ill, and give them choices over their future care.
But the report says that rarely happens and doctors should be more proactive.
It recommends involving family, friends and carers in the conversation too.
The report, Talking about dying, gathered the views of patients, trainees and doctors on how to begin conversations about the end of someone’s life.
Although doctors say they find these types of conversations challenging, the report said it was important they didn’t “shy away” from them.
It said doctors in all areas of healthcare should engage with a patient who wanted to talk about dying.
But it shouldn’t be “a one-off, tick-box event”.
