AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/glossary/life-sustaining

Life sustaining treatment

Life sustaining treatment is any treatment needed to keep a patient alive.

Updated 12 October 2026 (1 minute read)

Summary

  • Examples are ventilation, dialysis, CPR and feeding through a tube.
  • An adult with capacity can refuse it, even if they will die as a result.
  • For a patient who lacks capacity, it can be withheld or withdrawn when continuing is not in their best interests.
  • When doctors and a family cannot agree, the dispute can be taken to a court.

Interview questions

  • Is there a moral difference between withholding a treatment and withdrawing it?
  • A family wants treatment continued and the doctors believe it is causing suffering. How should that be resolved?
  • Should feeding through a tube count as medical treatment?

Practise answering these with a mentor

Our interview preparation has you answer questions like these out loud, with feedback on each answer.

See interview preparation Book a free consultation

alphamedicine.uk/Services · alphamedicine.uk/Contact

Cases that turn on it

Indi Gregory and best interests Autonomy Indi was eight months old and had a disease with no cure. Her parents wanted treatment to continue, and a hospital in Rome offered to take her. Judges in England ruled that it was in her best interests to stop.

More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.