PoA means their wishes are protected in the event of serious illness or accident.

The plea has come as Health and Social Care Partners support national PoA day (today) September 29, 2022.

In the event of an illness or accident, POA is a legal document allowing a nominated person of authority to act or make decisions on a family member's behalf. This happens when a person loses the capacity to make their own decisions following an incident which leaves them unable to look after their financial or personal affairs.

Soumen Sengupta, Chief Officer of South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership said: “No one wants to be left in limbo if they suddenly find themselves incapacitated - through other serious illness or accident. Where a loved one can no longer make decisions for themselves – often due to a dementia diagnosis, mental health issue or injury - distressed families and partners often discover they have no automatic legal rights to direct that person’s medical welfare or financial affairs.

“I would therefore urge everyone in Lanarkshire who is eligible to prepare a PoA. We know that appointing an attorney can relieve a lot of stress and heartache for families in what are already difficult situations.”

More details are available from the Power of Attorney website and you can follow their campaign on Facebook and Twitter.