Patients deteriorate in hospital for many reasons. Failures to recognise, escalate and respond appropriately can cause preventable harm. The Health Quality & Safety Commission is working with hospitals to improve their systems for managing the care of patients who deteriorate. Shared goals of care is part of that work programme.

This learning package aims to:

• share the importance of early person-centric discussions about goals of care for hospital admissions
• introduce you to the serious illness conversation guide, a tool to support shared goals of care discussions
• share three case studies to deepen your understanding of the conversation guide and how it can help you with shared goals of care discussions
• show you how to document discussions using the shared goals of care form