Member Article

Clarke Willmott lawyers lead talks on dying well

Bristol law firm Clarke Willmott LLP led discussions on capacity and end of life care at a special event held in conjunction with Bristol University’s Centre for Ethics in Medicine.

The fully subscribed Ethics in Practice conference was attended by the city’s legal and medical professionals, academics and guest speakers including Baroness Ilora Finlay who is a Crossbench member of the House of Lords and Chair of the Mental Capacity Forum.

The event not only raised important issues surrounding death and mental capacity law but also raised £1770 for the National Council for Palliative Care.

Heledd Wyn, an expert in care and capacity issues at Clarke Willmott and lead lawyer for the event, said: “Capacity and end of life care are really hot topics in Bristol at the moment so it was hugely useful for us to get together with other local professionals who deal with the same issues and discuss the challenges we face while looking ahead to solutions.

“We were delighted by the reaction to the event; we had a full house and a waiting list of people wanting to attend. It was so successful, in fact, that we are looking at rolling out similar conferences at our other offices across the country.

“I was struck by the diversity of views of those working with people, and their families, who are at the end of life. There are no ‘right’ answers to what should or should not be done - simply that everyone in this field is doing their best and working in a compassionate and ethical manner.

“Issues around capacity, elderly and vulnerable care, powers of attorney and Court of Protection matters are extremely delicate and we must work with numerous agencies in order to protect and help people, and their families, in times of crisis.”

Richard Huxtable, director of Bristol University’s Centre for Ethics in Medicine, said: “This conference helped to demonstrate that dying matters and we really need to talk about it. We’re all going to die at some point so starting these big conversations about the intricacies of end of life care, is really important.

“Mental capacity law has the potential to empower people but too few citizens and even professionals know what the law says about matters like advance decisions and power of attorney.

“There are ethical issues everywhere in these fields and big questions like whether to treat or not to treat in some cases. These issues are best worked through by working together, talking together and listening together.”

Clarke Willmott LLP is a national law firm with seven offices across the country, including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clarke Willmott .