Following feedback, a new leaflet about anticipatory medicines has been written to answer questions from patients who are at the end of their lives and their families.

The aim is to help them once they have been discharged from hospital and are on prescribed medication at home.

End of Life Care Facilitator, Gillian Sykes said: "It's important that patients at the end of their life have the appropriate medications prescribed and also that they are available. 

"We wrote the leaflet following feedback and questions from patients and relatives." 

Prescribing medications in anticipation, and administering them when needed should support families at such a difficult time by improving symptom control and maybe avoiding the  unnecessary transfer of a patient from their place of care in the last hours or days of life can also be avoided. 

The leaflets are available on the Trust intranet: See Policies & Document Library and click into Other systems –Patient leaflet repository. Search ‘Just in case’  or 'anticipatory'.