End of Life Choice Act 2019

The End Of Life Choice Act Pinnacle network clinical Zoom with Dr Kristin Good and Alastair Higham-Lee is an opportunity to hear from the implementation team how the act will change your practice, and where to access resources to learn more.

• People will be able to request assisted dying from 7 November 2021.
• A person must meet strict criteria to be eligible for assisted dying.
• A person must be competent to make an informed decision about assisted dying.
• The person must raise the topic of assisted dying first, it must not be presented to them as an option.
• Providers of assisted dying services must have the appropriate skills and knowledge to assess, counsel and administer medication.
• The process can stop at any time. 

Providers of the service will make claims directly from the MOH via an assisted dying web portal which is in development.

Pinnacle readiness guide

It's important all staff - not only clinical staff - feel informed and knowledgeable about the EOLC Act in case they receive questions from patients. This readiness guide (PPT) has been created to help Pinnacle practices get ready for implementation, outlining key information and discussion points including options and obligations, who has oversight of assisted dying, support for health professionals and peers, how to talk to patients about assisted dying and more.

We encourage practices to have a staff wide meeting to discuss the Act and the roles and responsibilites for your practice. This readiness guide can assist with this conversation.

Practices need to implement a policy for assisted dying services. There is a policy guidance document on the Ministry of Health website and you can use this Pinnacle template (Word doc) to develop a policy specific to your practice. 

There are three e-learning modules about assisted dying that all health professionals are encouraged to complete. These can be accessed through LearnOnline (note registration is needed).

• End of Life Choice Act 2019: Overview – this e-learning module provides an overview of the Act, including a practitioner’s rights and responsibilities.
• Assisted dying care pathway: Overview – this e-learning module explains the process for accessing assisted dying, including the roles of different health practitioners.
• Responding when a person raises assisted dying – this e-learning module is to support practitioners to respond respectfully and appropriately when a person raises assisted dying, including best practice communication skills.

A specific care pathway is provided for medical practitioners not providing (PDF) assisted dying services.

In addition, there are five e-learning modules for medical and nurse practitioners who plan to provide assisted dying services. These cover the assessment process, preparations for an assisted death, assisted death and after-care, and practitioner safety and wellbeing. Practitioners can request access to these modules by emailing eolc@health.govt.nz. Please create a LearnOnline account before emailing, and in the email provide your name, profession, date of birth, email connected to LearnOnline account, Medical or Nursing Council number.

Providers of the service will be required to complete the five e-learning modules to claim funding under the section 88 notice.

The Ministry of Health has a number of additional resources that practices may want to use to further inform staff. These include the following.

• EOLC Act information for patients, health professionals and nurse practitioners.
• Information about funding and delivery (PDF).
• Responding when a person raises assisted dying handbook (PDF), conversation guide and e-learning module.
• Care pathways for health practitioners (PDF), nurses (PDF) and other health service providers (PDF).
• Preparing for assisted dying services (PDF) and a checklist to prepare (PDF) for assisted dying services. 
• Scenarios to support planning (PDF).

These are also available through LearnOnline. 

We will continue to update practices, and this page, as we receive new information.

• If you have questions, please contact your practice development facilitator, drjo@pinnacle.health.nz or email eolc@health.govt.nz.
• You can also subscribe to receive the EOLC implementation updates. These are a great source to keep you up to date with progress and any relevant or important information.