Appropriate and inappropriate care in the last phase of life: an explorative study among patients and relatives.

Background: Many people are in need of care in the last phase of life. However, the care they receive is not always appropriate. For instance, people can receive overly aggressive treatment or can have limited access to palliative care.

Physician-assisted dying for children is conceivable for most Dutch paediatricians, irrespective of the patient's age or competence to decide.

Aim: Paediatricians caring for severely ill children may receive requests for physician-assisted dying (PAD). Dutch euthanasia law only applies to patients over 12 who make well-considered requests. These limitations have been widely debated, but little is known about paediatricians' positions on PAD.

Quality of consultation and the project 'Support and Consultation on Euthanasia in the Netherlands' (SCEN).

Objective: Consultation of another physician is one of the requirements for prudent practice. The project 'Support and Consultation on Euthanasia in the Netherlands' (SCEN) is aimed at professionalizing consultation. The objective of this study is to assess whether the quality of consultation was improved through SCEN.