Challenges of Providing Palliative Care to a Patient With Learning Disability: A Case Study From United Kingdom General Practice

Palliative care is a complex and challenging field in the healthcare profession. In the United Kingdom (UK), palliative care provision is part of everyday work for General Practitioners (GPs). The UK General Practice Curriculum includes palliative care as a core competency to be achieved to become a fully certified GP/family physician. The various stages of a patient’s journey from getting a life-limiting diagnosis to breaking bad news, and dealing with the treatments and resulting complications need active involvement from the patient and their loved ones with healthcare professionals at all times. It becomes more challenging if the patient has impaired mental capacity and cannot make his independent decisions as a result. The interplay of patient’s wishes, the wishes of immediate relatives, the law of the land and clinician’s role in becoming an advocate to safeguard patient’s best interest has significant implications for all stakeholders and far-reaching consequences. This case study elaborates on some of the challenges in the delivery of palliative care in a complex situation and provides knowledge base to bridge those flaws.