Voluntarily stopping eating and drinking—lack of guidance is failing patients and clinicians

The right to make informed decisions, and to be supported compassionately and confidently to do so by your healthcare team, is a cornerstone of excellent end-of-life care. But such care does not happen in a vacuum: understanding relevant legislation and ethical frameworks, recognising the importance of lived experience, and employing clinical expertise all play a key part in its delivery.Clear, national clinical guidance is what underpins all this, and we each have first-hand experience of how valuable it is in the delivery of end-of-life care. Yet recent research by Compassion in Dying—which has consulted with patients, their families and friends, and clinicians—finds that guidance is often lacking for people who wish to voluntarily stop eating and drinking (VSED) at the end of life.1 The experiences of people Compassion in Dying spoke to show how patients making complex decisions about end-of-life care lack clear information on VSED, and clinicians are missing…
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