ABSTRACT
Medical intervention generally reaches an individual person because they become ill or suffer an accident or neglect. We indicate strengths of scientific and clinical medicine and of palliative and end of life care that are brought to the bedside, in parallel with the concerns and attitudes of those who are at the receiving end of them. The focus is on the feelings and mindsets of those immediately involved as patient, family, friends, caregivers, and the medical, nursing and other professionals.
In a world where, medically, one can be kept alive or put to sleep, the issues of ‘quality of life’ and ‘quality of death’ are considered in some depth. Good care for the very ill can be provided through loving attention and presence combined with clinical competence. Commonly the context of care is fraught with uncertainty. Each stage presents choices and challenges.
