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. 2009 Dec 4;9:220. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-9-220

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 ||

* Source: interview with the director and training moderator of LEIF

† Source: http://knmg.artsennet.nl

‡ Source: http://www.leif.be

§Source: overview of the KNMG training for SCEN physicians, KNMG, November 2008

|| Source: Information obtained by email from the district coordinator of SCEN

¶Source: Information obtained by email from the LEIF secretariat