Polypharmacy and End of Life lunchtime masterclass
Getting medication right towards the end of life is a real challenge:
- How do we know when someone is approaching the end of life?
- How do we balance potential benefits of medicines with their increasing burden in someone who seems likely to die over the coming weeks or months ?
- How do we share those decisions with patients or those who care for them?
- What medications might be safely discontinued?
- Are there any medications we should not stop?
- What happens when someone can no longer take ‘essential’ medications orally?
Our guest speakers are Dr Saskie Holmes, lead clinician for the palliative care multi-disciplinary team at Forest Holme Hospice and Dr Lucy Pollock, geriatrician at Somerset Foundation Trust.