ABSTRACT
In the face of the unprecedented global pandemic by the name Covid-19, clinical personnel and healthcare systems have been forced to make rapid and often ethically challenging decisions about the care of those who are dying, not only due to Covid-19, but from other illnesses as well. The pace in which new Covid-19 cases are identified daily has shocked the healthcare system in unexpected ways. The demand for resources, on an organisational, practical and human level has heightened the need for clinical staff to engage all the more with conversations about end of life, and to be fully accountable, and aware of the principles that underlie these decisions, working with patients and families to achieve best practice in end-of-life decision-making This chapter will focus on how the current pandemic is impacting on healthcare staff, individuals and the wider public when needing to make end of life decisions. The discussion also draws on the clinical experience of the authors.
