When you have a long term medical condition you may worry about issues such as medical care, legal rights and money in a way a health person doesn’t always need to.
There are several things you can do to put your mind at rest and to plan for support including setting up ‘legal power of attorney’ for financial and health/welfare related issues. This means that other people, of your choosing, can take action to make decisions on your behalf if this ever becomes necessary.
Further reading
ME Foggy Dog charity has written, with people with ME in mind, an excellent article about why (and how) to create legal power of attorney documents and get them registered.
Finance expert Martin Lewis has a more detailed ‘deep dive’ into legal power of attorney options on his website.
Which? (the consumer rights organisation) has an indepth article too.
For learning about Living Wills you can visit the NHS webpage on the topic or the Compassion in Dying website.
Take action
To create legal power of attorney documents you can complete forms online yourself.
You can also involve a solicitor to assist you – Which? and the Coop Legal Services offer this, as do many other solicitor firms across the UK.
ME-specific information
You may want to mention various hospital and medical guides in your legal power of attorney documents so that your attorneys can easily find the information they need. Our page about medical visits is a useful place to start collating this information, and it includes a section on consenting to medical treatment.
Cambridge M.E. and L.C. Support Group, CBME 