Advance care planning in England and Wales

This section tells you about various aspects of advance care planning, including:

• creating a Lasting Power of Attorney
• writing down your wishes about how you would like to be cared for using a Preferred Priorities for Care document
• writing Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment.

It also has information about making a will|, organ and tissue donation|, and funeral planning|.

Planning for your future care is important in case you ever become unable to make choices yourself, for example if you were to become unconscious or lose capacity (the ability) to make decisions about treatment.

We hope this information answers some of your questions and helps you deal with some of the feelings| you may have.

We can’t advise you about the best ways to plan ahead for yourself. You may find it helpful to discuss what’s best for you with a healthcare or other professional, and someone close to you. 

There are also two documents in this section that you can use to write down some of your wishes and decisions for your future care. One of these is a Preferred Priorities for Care document and the other is an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment document.

You may also want to discuss this information with our cancer support specialists.

Planning ahead

Planning ahead is important for anyone regardless of whether they have an illness or not.

Many people think that they don’t need to make decisions about their future care unless they reach a time when they know that an illness, such as advanced cancer| or heart failure, can no longer be treated.

However, planning ahead is important for anyone, regardless of whether they have an illness or not. This is because none of us can say for sure whether we’ll always be able to make our own decisions about our care. For example, some people may become very ill unexpectedly, and be unable to make decisions about their healthcare or make any financial plans for their loved ones.

A diagnosis of cancer or other illness may start you thinking about your future care and what you’d want to happen if you were to become seriously ill. Even if you’ve been cured of your cancer or other illness, it’s still helpful to think about the future.

You can talk through your wishes or other plans with a professional and a loved one who you can trust. Remember that you are the expert on you and only you can know exactly how you would like to be cared for.