RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Fifteen-minute consultation: How to communicate with parents who have a child on life support with no hope of recovery JF Archives of disease in childhood - Education & practice edition JO Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health SP edpract-2021-322262 DO 10.1136/archdischild-2021-322262 A1 Annie Swanepoel YR 2022 UL http://ep.bmj.com/content/early/2022/06/20/archdischild-2021-322262.abstract AB A child on life support with no hope of recovery is the worst nightmare for parents and for paediatricians. Unfortunately, some children have illnesses or injuries that are not compatible with life. Being in a vegetative state with no meaningful interaction does not safeguard children from feeling discomfort and pain. Letting nature take its course and allowing the child to die may well be the least worse option. However, this decision is fraught with difficulties for parents and for clinicians and can lead to unnecessary and painful conflict between them, even leading to court proceedings. In this paper, the impact of having a child on life support is discussed and recommendations are given in order to improve professional communication. It is hoped that an understanding of the impact on parents, cultural considerations, and the psychiatric concepts of ‘denial’, ‘projection’, the ‘meta-level’, ‘transference’, ‘countertransference’ and the techniques of ‘motivational interviewing’ will help clinicians prevent a breakdown of trust and improve doctor–parent relationships in these tragic cases.