South West Clinical Senate. Surgical Interventions with Limited Benefit (Jan 2016)

The question:
It is recognised that currently in some circumstances, surgical treatments with limited benefit might be delivered to patients whereas there are greater limitations in the use of drug/medicine therapies. With particular reference to patients thought to be in their final year of life, what guidance and information should be considered by MDTs when making decisions to undertake complex surgical procedures in order to assure that surgical interventions are in a patient’s best interests?