The South Korean government is moving to revise its system for decisions on withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, aiming to address difficulties that medical staff face in applying the rules. Officials plan to review not only how such decisions are made but also what medical and nursing support end-of-life patients need afterward, with a set of reform recommendations due by the end of the year.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 16th that it held the third meeting of its special committee on improving the life-sustaining treatment decision system at Conference House Dalgaebi in Seoul.
The meeting, chaired by Kim Jang-han, a professor at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine, took up the theme of the role and limits of end-of-life care as experienced in clinical settings, and discussed on-the-ground difficulties in operating the system along with possible improvements.
Participants examined factors that need to be considered when decisions on life-sustaining treatment are made in acute care and for patients with chronic severe illnesses, and exchanged views on medical and nursing support required for end-of-life patients after such decisions are reached.
The committee plans to review related tasks with the goal of drawing up reform recommendations within the year. On the 7th and 8th of next month, a citizens' panel deliberation hosted by the Medical Innovation Committee under the Prime Minister's Office will gather public views on the system. Opinions raised there will be reflected in future discussions on reform.
"Since the system took effect, we have worked to guarantee patients' best interests and to respect their self-determination, but difficulties still remain in how the system is run in clinical settings," Health and Welfare Minister Jung Eun-kyeong said. "We will listen fully to the wide range of experience and views held by experts in the field, gather broad public input as well, and seek reforms so that patients' wishes are respected while the medical care and nursing they need are properly provided."