"I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, "(Margo Channing)
Rice Balls & Charles
Queue
With A Hint Of Orange
Bright, Bright, Sunshiny day
Flip Flops
Moving
Damp
Sunday Night
How To Be Amazingly Happy
Food For Thought
Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) refers to the assistance provided to a person by a health practitioner to end their life. It includes:
- 'self-administration', where the person takes the VAD medication themselves (this is sometimes called physician-assisted suicide or dying), and
- 'practitioner administration', where the person is given the medication by a doctor (or in some Australian States, a nurse practitioner or registered nurse) (this is sometimes called voluntary euthanasia).
‘Voluntary’ indicates that the practice is a voluntary choice of the person, and that they are competent (have capacity) to decide to access VAD.
As you can see the law in Australia seems a million miles away from ours in the Uk, however the criteria for VAD is precise and can only be used with a diagnosis of conditions that are life limiting of only a few months . Conditions such as MND, disabilities or mental health do not fit the criteria.
It was a fascinating workshop and I felt that the Australian consultant was rather intrigued that he had been approached by a tiny Welsh Hospice to discuss his role rather than by a UK palliative care centre based in say London.
All of our hospice doctors, a good cross section of the nurses and support workers and a smattering of managers and Board Members turned up and on reflection I still am not sure how I feel about the whole subject.
'We will meet again'
Tribute
I don't want to over egg the pudding but this tribute, especially his very last line, moved me greatly
The Queen
Ladies Who Lunch