End of life planning

Friends at the End has provided compassionate help for hundreds of people near the end of their lives. We have resources to help you plan a good death at any stage of your life; this may include talking to your family, talking to your friends, talking to your doctors, and preparing yourself emotionally.

We can provide practical advice and information about:

  • Advance Care Planning is about deciding what healthcare you do or do not want towards the end of your life.
  • Advance Directives are formal documents that let you say in advance that you do not want any life-prolonging treatments when you are not in a position to refuse them because you are unconscious or otherwise unable to indicate your wishes.
  • Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Orders (DNACPR) are legal documents that tell the medical team not to attempt CPR in the event, for example, of a heart attack.
  • Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint one or more people to help you make decisions, or to make decisions on your behalf. This gives you more control over what happens to you in the event of a medical condition which prevents you making decisions at the time.
  • Services and support towards the end of life
    In Scotland, anyone who is 65 or over is entitled to free personal care if assessed as needing it. Free nursing care is available at any age if someone is deemed as needing it. You are entitled to a broad range of support, not just medical care, towards the end of life. Get in touch if you need help or support navigating this.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to somebody for help and advice, then feel free to email us info@fate.scot.

Assisted dying and euthanasia

Although neither assisted dying nor euthanasia is legal in Scotland, Friends at the End supports people to have a good death within the current law. We advocate for legislation to allow an assisted death where a terminally ill person takes a life-ending medication – prescribed by a health professional – for themselves. We do not support euthanasia, where someone else, usually a doctor, responds to the person’s request to have their life ended, usually by someone other than the patient administering a life-ending medication. The only exception to this is where the person is unable to self-ingest. To find out more, see Assisted Dying.

Further information and support

Other organisations who can help you and those around you:

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“To keep someone alive against their wishes is the ultimate indignity.”
– Stephen Hawking

Case Studies

Read more about the support we have provided to help affect change.