The deteriorating patient representative on a palliative care quality committee: Ethical and practical considerations

Abstract

This case study describes the involvement of a patient representative on a palliative care committee and outlines some of the issues that arose as her health deteriorated. A summary of the increasing involvement of patient representation within health care governance is provided, and some of the challenges raised by the case, many of which may be relatively unique to palliative care, are discussed. It is hoped that presentation of this fairly novel scenario provides other palliative care providers with the opportunity to consider their own processes and practices around managing a similar situation should it occur in their healthcare setting.