"Excellent end of life care"

Recently my husband was a patient at the Albany Health Campus, where he had surgery. He was elderly and already very sick when he was admitted. Despite his poor prognosis, the staff did all they possibly could for him and I was most impressed with the very professional care he received. A lovely nurse called Anna was especially kind in explaining what was happening and supporting both my husband and our family in the lead up to the surgery.

In particular, when my husband had had all the treatment he was prepared to take, he spoke with a wonderful young doctor called Nick, who checked with him about his end of life care wishes and had obviously taken heed of his Advance Health Directive. He was still well able to speak on his own behalf and Dr Nick listened with great compassion and care, then acted on his wishes to remove the intravenous lines and to stop the routine tests and observations. He arranged for my husband to be moved to palliative care where he died that evening, as my husband wished.

My husband had been reluctant to write his Advance Health Directive, but I am so glad he did it and, even though he was still able to speak for himself, the AHD gave Dr Nick a way of approaching the necessary discussion with him in a gentle but clear way, for which I am most grateful.