Senior medical staff, junior medical staff, nursing and allied health staff should all be equipped to discuss and then document elements of advance care planning discussions. This includes values and goals, hopes and fears, and preferences regarding place of care.

Senior medical staff are responsible for discussing, deciding and documenting goals of care, and which specific interventions should and should not be undertaken.

While much of this document refers to parents, we need to have a clear understanding of who is important in making decisions about the care of a particular child.

Who is the child’s main carer? What are the custodial arrangements? Are there key members of extended family to consider? Are there any legal rulings in place?
What is the family structure?

Some examples of different family structures may include divorced or separated households; grandparent, kinship, and extended family carers; same-gender parented families; foster families and single parented families.