Edited by P Webb. Hochland and Hochland, 2000, £15.95, Pp 138. ISBN 1–898507–27–9

• Webb P
• editor Ethical Issues in Palliative Care
• Reflections and Considerations

This book is a collection of essays by a variety of specialists with a particular interest in palliative care. It contains seven chapters by six different authors.

The first chapter Why is the study of ethics important? is by Patricia Webb, a lecturer in palliative care with a background in nursing. She tells us that studying ethics encourages logical reasoned thinking in the face of difficult decisions such as allocation of resources, access to services, best care, clinical research, and rights to life. Webb reminds us that clinical guidelines may not be much help in the face of an ethical dilemma with no clear right or wrong answer.

The chapter called Care versus cure by David Jeffrey, a consultant in palliative medicine and writer on medical ethics, reminds us that care is concerned as much with the subjective feelings of the patient as with the physical disease, and aims …