The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report, released in March 2024 and calling for improvement in DNACPR conversations is the focus for this blog. It is an important document highlighting current failures in practice and recommending steps for the way forward.
The dual purpose of this blog is to place the report in context of other relevant and key publications and to highlight the findings of the report.

Advance Care Planning stories can bring to life the impact of planning ahead. I am proud to be hosting guest blogs, and this week to feature Advance Care Planning in the form of a case study and discussion with Dr Joe Cosgrove, a Consultant in Anaesthesia.
Dr Cosgrove describes an example of Advance Care Planning in practice, explaining the background to an anonymised patient case, what happened and lessons to be learned. It is a masterclass in proactive, personalised planning demonstrating zooming out, or seeing the long-term illness in an acute healthcare situation.
The blog closes with key messages for Advance Care Planning in a chronic and severe illness.

I am thrilled to host a guest blog by Bo Mandeville. Bo begins by describing who he is and the neurodegenerative condition he has been diagnosed with. Bo then shares why Advance Care Planning is important to him and the challenges he has faced in seeking appropriate care. Bo closes the blog with a call to arms for us all to recognise the importance of planning ahead and for the availability of support to do so.

“Where can I find resource to support Advance Care Planning?” is a question I hear often; this blog sets out what you can find on the Speak For Me website and invites you to let me know what other resource would be valuable.

Question: Why are there missing pages in a Lasting Power of Attorney returned by the Office of the Public Guardian after registration?

Answer: in the blog to follow…..

This is an exciting blog for me to share as it is an introduction to Nichola, LPA Associate and Project Manager, and the newest recruit to Speak For Me. Nichola started a couple of weeks ago and I may have omitted a little in the job description – thank you for stepping into blog writing so quickly if unexpectedly.
I was sent this question “Why are there missing pages in a Lasting Power of Attorney returned by the Office of the Public Guardian after registration?” via a convoluted Twitter (X) route and am grateful for Nichola in summarising the outcome of discussions and investigations.

Can I use a Lasting Power of Attorney abroad was a question I was asked recently, finding the answer and sharing what I learned is the foundation for this blog.

I mentioned Organ Donation in my previous blog and am aware that this important subject deserves a more detailed discussion. This blog will highlights current law, shares my professional experience of Organ Donation and, I hope, encourages people to engage in talking about Organ Donation personally and professionally.

Looking to 2024 and the resolutions that are so popular this time of year, now seems a good time to suggest Advance Care Planning as a resolution with real meaning. It can seem a daunting task and will be different for everyone depending on your stage of life, but there are some common themes and ideas that can work for us all. This blog offers five practical tasks, listed below, for Advance care Planning.

I work with clients locally and nationally; for my local clients I act as the Certificate Provider and witness, for clients I support locally I advise on who can fulfil the role of witness. In the previous blog I described the role of a Certificate Provider ( No just in Certificate Provision ) and this follow on blog describes who can be a witness for a Lasting Power of Attorney.

Some time ago I was contacted to ask if I would “just be the Certificate Provider” for a person’s Lasting Power of Attorney. It seems such an easy question and quick task, but there really is no just in Certificate Provision. This blog explains what the role of a Certificate Provider is in the context of a Lasting Power of Attorney and aims to demonstrated why I feel the word “just” minimises the importance of the role.

Advance Care Planning and an Advance Care Plan are related concepts, this blog explores what each term means and the intersection between them.

This week’s blog answers another question I have been asked recently - What difference does it make if an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment is written before or after a Lasting Power of Attorney? The question is one I have been asked many times in the past and again more recently – whether to write an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment before or after creating a Lasting Power of Attorney. The question also links with my previous blog Can a family create an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment for someone who has lost capacity?

Can an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment be written by an attorney? This is the essence of a question I have been asked recently, and will answer in the flowing blog. The person who posed the question kindly consented for me to share an anonymised background and the questions they faced.

It may seem counter-intuitive to look at stopping being an attorney when so much if what I promote is proactive Advance Care Planning, including having a Lasting Power of Attorney in place. I believe it is important to understand how the role of an attorney may end right at the beginning of making a Lasting Power of Attorney because it could influence how the document is drafted. This is the last of three blogs exploring how an attorneyship could end.

In the previous blog I answered the question “Can I stop being an attorney?” I wrote from the perspective of an attorney wanting to relinquish the role or disclaim the attorneyship and described how this could be carried out. To follow the theme of stopping being an attorney, this blog describes how a donor could remove an attorney.

A friend of mine is an attorney for her neighbour, but is now struggling to act as an attorney through her own ill health – she has asked me if she can “stop” being an attorney, a question that I’ll explore in this blog. I’ll start by explaining what a Lasting Power of Attorney is, then how and when and attorney could act and finally describe how an attorney can stop or relinquish their role.

Questions about using a Lasting Power of Attorney once the document has been registered with the Office of the Public Guardian continues to be one of the most frequent questions I am asked. This blog answers another question I have recently been asked around the subject of LPAs and activation keys, specifically, how long does the activation code last?

Some time ago I applied for funding and was rejected because I am not a registered charity; that started me thinking, and from that I created a list of the pro bono work I do. To continue providing information, support and resource I am offering sponsorship opportunities for individuals and organisations. Find out how you can be involved.

This blog explores what a Lasting Power of Attorney is, the different types of Lasting Power of Attorney and the options you have when making your Lasting Power of Attorney. The cost of each option is explained and there are key questions you should be aware of when choosing how and who to do your Lasting Power of Attorney.