Abstract
Ethics involves critical reflection on morality. Ethical principles are not laws, but guiding principles about what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’, that should direct doctors and other health care professionals in their work and decision making. Issues arising over end-of-life care involving decisions that affect the nature and timing of an individual's death raise difficult ethical conflicts for all concerned and can be a source of discord between health professionals within a team, health professionals and family members, or between different family members. It is not possible to explore all aspects of such decisions, so this article aims to address just the common issues likely to affect GPs on a day-to-day basis.
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