Policy analysis
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) take up the changes in the law that matter for the society and government and all health professional that is operating within the professional system. The organization is supporting the patient-centered decision at the end of life care that is comprised of palliative care and request for bringing assistance in the situation of dying (Rawlings et al., 2019). Following are the points present that are implying the position of the organization. Promoting the protection of the patient and doctors is in the favor of the organization as it will be providing quality services to the people. Ensuring that the doctors are not having any compulsion to do any sort of task again is a favorable position that is respecting the profession and the dignity of the provider in the setting. It is going to make them able to get involved in the practices that are suitable per their ethics and morals. Promotion of clarity about the eligibility criteria that is allowing the doctor to be clear that is what the expectation from them makes them able to give the right practices (Livne, 2019). Making support to the optimization of the end of life care and giving palliative care services that are easing the end-of-life care for the patient and the practitioner. With the analysis of the position, it is evident that the following point is in the favor of the patient and doctor that will be facilitating end-of-life care.
The organization holds a clear view that the range of perceptions and views there is going to interfere in the voluntary assisting dying. The views can be seen in the general practice profession or the border community. The reform takes the view that voluntary assisting dying is a highly complex situation that is going to raise a significant number of ethical and legal issues (Lazaridis, 2018). With the inclination and taking the view of the patient and the doctors, it becomes easy to overcome the alleviating levels of the suffering of the patient. With the evidence and points presented above, it is found that the main motive of the legislation is to overcome the ethical issue. The reform in favor will be making the voluntary assisting dying to be free from any kind of ethical issue. It is leading to the formation of the statement that is giving promotion to the end of life care and will be including palliative care (Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, 2022). As per the analysis, it is found that involvement of the end of life care and its optimization will be supporting the volunteer assisting the dying in a better manner. In addition, it will be helping in resolving ethical and legal issues as it is found that families usually comes up with the objection of not being aware of the process. All these sorts of questions are going to deal with under the legislation.
Amendment that can be implemented in the policy is showing respect to the patient’s choice with the inclusion of their family members. Majority of the end of life care requires being patient-centered as it is evident that each patient comes up with a different requirement that needs dealing with the help of the inclusion of the choices (Gonella et al., 2019). Communication, one of the major amendments that are needed to be implemented is communication as it will be making an open and informed platform among the GP and patient that is promoting transparency in the problem and treatment provided to the patient at the end of life care.
There is a large number of patients who request voluntary assisted dying, and it is majorly patient-initiated. It includes family members, health practitioners, and others. When people request voluntary assisted, they must be provided the freedom to express their wishes and provide full support. However, this is not the case and they are still struggling with it (Kresin et al., 2021). The lack of palliative care service should not restrict the patient from voluntary dying. There are various auditing services and along with it, the government’s responsibilities are to prevent this. It has been observed that the eligibility criteria to access voluntary assisted dying should be clearly stated. It should be such that it provides certainty and clarity to the community and health practitioners. The patient-centered care should be promoted, as this allows the patient to judge themselves while living all the relevant experiences (Close et al., 2022).
There are several reasons which state, why this reform is not supported by people. According to the Parliamentary Committee in Victoria Australia, it has been mentioned that the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is promoted, hence it is not supported. The practical principles that are stated are selective and superficial. There are several instances present which does not constitute voluntary assisted dying, these are mentioned below (Keown, 2018). The withdrawal and withholding of medical treatment according to the person’s previously stated wishes. The withhold or the withdrawal of treatment in a situation where the person retains the capacity to make an effective decision and refuse life-sustaining intervention. Another major drawback of this is the pre-authorization of the data. Although pre-authorization is a safeguard in Victorian legislation, however coordinating with the doctors is not an easy task. In this, all the relevant documents should be reviewed and then a final review form is prepared. There are several concerns in pre-authorization, first is the extra time which the process takes and then the utility of the Secretary review. All these factors when combined it suggests that the pre-authorization requirement might adversely affect the patient. The more adverse effect will be seen in a patient who is severely ill. It is also a problem when limited life expectancy data is present (McDougall & Pratt, 2022).
RACP is the organization that changes the law that matter to society and government. It mainly works towards the protection of the patient and doctors in the favor of the organization and along with it provides security to the patient and the doctor. Although the program developed by the organization called the voluntary assisting dying legislation is highly useful, it has several limitations present. Several amendments are needed to the policy. These amendments show respect for the patient’s choice with the inclusion of their family members. A huge number of patients request voluntary assisted dying and it is majorly patient-initiated. In addition to it, patient-centered care should also be encouraged and promoted. This is beneficial because it allows the patient to judge themselves while living all the relevant experiences. Another major problem with this policy is that it requires pre-authorization of the data. Pre-authorization of the data requires a lot of time, hence it creates a problem. Hence, it can be concluded that although this policy is thought to be effective, however, it comes with some major drawbacks which need to be addressed.
Close, E., Willmott, L., & White, B.P. (2022). Voluntary assisted dying: Peak bodies must provide practical guidance. Internal Medicine Journal, 52(6), 926-931. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imj.15805
Gonella, S., Basso, I., De Marinis, M. G., Campagna, S., & Di Giulio, P. (2019). Good end-of-life care in the nursing home according to the family carers’ perspective: A systematic review of qualitative findings. Palliative medicine, 33(6), 589-606. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216319840275
Keown, J. (2018). “Voluntary assisted dying” in Australia: The Victorian parliamentary committee’s tenuous case for legalization. Issues in Law & Medicine, 33(1), 55–81. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30831019/
Kresin, T., Hawgood, J., De Leo, D., & Varghese, F. (2021). Attitudes and arguments in the voluntary assisted dying debate in Australia: What are they and how have they Evolved over time?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12327. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12327
Lazaridis, C. (2018). End-of-life considerations and shared decision-making in neurocritical care. CONTINUUM: Lifelong Learning in Neurology, 24(6), 1794-1799. https://journals.lww.com/continuum/Abstract/2018/12000/End_of_life_Considerations_and_Shared_Decision.14.aspx
Livne, R. (2019). Values at the end of life: The logic of palliative care. Social Forces. 98(4), 1-3. http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674545175
McDougall, R., & Pratt, B. (2020). Too much safety? Safeguards and equal access in the context of voluntary assisted dying legislation. BMC Medical Ethics, 21(1), 1-10.
Rawlings, D., Tieman, J., Miller‐Lewis, L., & Swetenham, K. (2019). What role do death doulas play in end‐of‐life care? A systematic review. Health & Social Care in the Community, 27(3), e82-e94. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12660
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. (2022). Voluntary assisted dying legislation. https://www.racgp.org.au/advocacy/position-statements/view-all-position-statements/clinical-and-practice-management/voluntary-assisted-dying-legislation
