Table 3 functioning and organisation of SCEN and LEIF
Functioning & Organisation | LEIF | SCEN |
|---|---|---|
Selection criteria | * 5 years experience in practice * * experience with euthanasia* * skilful in consultations* * not being fundamentally against euthanasia* | * 5 years experience in practice †* experience with euthanasia or physician-assisted death (PAD) †* skilful in consultations†* not being fundamentally against euthanasia†* write a motivation letter†|
Training | 24 hours spread over 5 modules in 28 weeks | 22.5 hours spread over 3 days in 5 weeks |
|  | Content of modules ‡: * general introduction * end-of-life care (laws of patient rights, palliative care and euthanasia; palliative practice) * context of the LEIF physician and the other caregivers * euthanasia in practice * communication of the LEIF physician | Content of modules § * tasks, duties and role of the consultant * communication and emotions around euthanasia * alternative possibilities and the final advice (the consultation report, suffering, palliative care) |
|  | Intervisions ‡ * Group meetings per province * twice a year * to discuss cases | Intervisions †* Group meetings per district * 3 to 4 times a year * to air problems and to monitor the quality of consultation |
Organisation | Comes under the non-profit organisation End-of-life care Academy and has 1 central secretariat for Flanders and Brussels * | Comes under a department of the Royal Dutch Medical Association and is subdivided in 23 districts throughout the Netherlands. There is a consultant network per district †|
Contact | One central telephone number at LEIF secretariat, permanently available. LEIF physicians can also be contacted directly ‡ | One central telephone number per district, during office hours †|
Consultations | Work with guidelines received during training and use the registration form of the Federal Control and Evaluation Committee as a checklist for the criteria of due care * | Follow a written consultation protocol and have a checklist for writing the report (bron) |
Expenses | No standard compensation is provided. LEIF physicians sometimes charge the price of a normal consultation * | A standard compensation of 280€ is provided via the health insurance of the patient to the SCEN physician after the SCEN physician files a report || |
Control | A guidance group, consisting of medical doctors, academics, ethics, experts in palliative care, nurses and actors, acts as a sounding board for LEIF ‡ | An advice council, consisting of medical doctors, academics, a medical advisor and the project leader of SCEN, guards the objectives of the SCEN program †|
Support | No more direct financial support after 2007¶ | Annually 1.000.000€ support from the Dutch government || |