Change in definitions of advance and future care planning

In their Practice Pointer Hyson and Fritz reference anticipatory care planning,1 a process that was in place in NHS Scotland until recently.In 2023 the chief medical officer for Scotland published a statement saying that anticipatory care planning would be changed to future care planning,2 similar to the 2019 decision in Wales.3 This had been prompted by an international consensus white paper published in Lancet Oncology.14 It defines advance care planning clearly, yet in a slightly more restrictive way than had been practised in the UK. Advance care planning requires decisional mental capacity from the patient at the outset—that is, when decisions about potential future treatments are discussed, weighed up, and views are written down.Future care planning, in contrast with advance care planning and anticipatory care planning, includes patients with diminished capacity at the time of information gathering, for whom a best interests approach should be followed. Ideally these discussions should…
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