With an even-handed approach, Hitchcock addresses the issue of overmedication and excessive treatment, and the equally contentious one of premature palliation. Who makes the decision – doctor, patient, or family – when to stop treating the patient? Hitchcock untangles these knotty ethical problems by looking at individual cases and comparing our health system with those of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Writing for the general reader, Hitchcock moves gracefully between a well-researched overview, ethical dilemmas, statistics, case histories, and her personal story. She describes her father’s death from leukaemia, and of bedside conversations with her elderly patients. Hitchcock’s assured style and passion for her subject allow the reader to engage with the debate and consider the care options for the frail elderly. Without denying the complexities and subjectivity of end-of-life decisions, she clarifies the medical options and procedures, while keeping the well-being and dignity of the patient at the heart of the matter.