End of life care is a person-centred, a personalised perception of “Good Death” which encompasses all aspects of comprehensive care of an individual at his or her end of life. It involves a. Applicability to any person, place or illness b. Relief of physical, psychological, social, spiritual and existential symptoms c. To die at the preferred place of choice d. To receive appropriate care by a trained health care provider and e. To have access to palliative care at the end of life. Every individual has a right to a good, peaceful and dignified end of life care and death.

Clinical decision making in advanced and critical illness is often technologically and ethically complicated. As multiple stakeholders are involved in clinical decision making, it is easy to lose perspective of the illness, futility, outcomes of interventions and patient’s autonomy. The Blue Maple document mandates the due processes involved in these critical and urgent decisions. It describes methodical execution of the process with adequate safeguards in place to balance between the ease of use and prevention of abuse.

Limiting life-sustaining treatment in terminally ill patients at the end of life allows the individual to die with dignity. The document aims to make this process as simple and safe to protect patients’ right to receive a dignified end of life care and limit needless harm due to inappropriate interventions at the end of life.