Talking to patients and relatives about dying

Key points 1. The science of symptom control is the easy bit, or at least it can be learnt and accessed 2. Consulting and talking to dying patients is difficult 3. It is an area of medical training which is deficient and yet needed by all 4. Death has been medicalised and the general population has little contact with it 5. It is difficult as it questions our mortality resulting in ‘spiritual pain’ 6. Bereavement is the unintentionally neglected part of palliative care