End-of-life care for patients with cancer

End-of-life care is a core role of general practice. Patients with disseminated cancer have rapidly escalating needs at the end of life that are usually predictable and, therefore, planning for future needs is possible. Care planning and working with specialist palliative care colleagues improves patient outcomes.

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of end-of-life care for patients with cancer, including evidence supporting the involvement of general practitioners (GPs).

Care planning is predicated on understanding the patient's wishes about how care should be conducted and ensuring the plan conforms to these wishes. Not all GPs are willing to undertake palliative care, often because of a sense of inadequate knowledge, confidence and support. The more palliative care is undertaken, however, the more confident practitioners feel. Therefore, starting to treat end-of-life patients early in a GP's career is important, and making use of the considerable resources available will assist in building knowledge and confidence. Systematically caring for carers might be a way of introducing GPs to the care of patients with cancer at the end of life.