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NHS often not informing families about use of 'death pathway'
 Thousands of patients in the NHS are put onto the Liverpool Care Pathway each year in their last days and hours.It aims to give patients a 'good death' by avoiding unnecessary and burdensome medical intervention but there have been accusations it hastens death because it can involve the removal of artifical hydration and nutrition. That's a three-syllable apiece way of saying they starve or die for lack of water... A report into palliative care in the NHS found that in one, unnamed hospital trust, half of families were not told that their loved one had been placed on the LCP and in a quarter of trusts, one in three families were not informed. "Back off, lady! I'm a trained medical professional!" Dr Patrick Pullicino, a consultant neurologist at East Kent University Hospitals, said it was vital that more information was made available about the use of the Liverpool Care Pathway in the NHS. "Eventually we all come under review, y'know." He said: "We need to know how frequently it is being used. Data should be released showing the proportion of patients who die in hospital who were on the Liverpool Care Pathway and how many were on it against their will or that of their family." You can starve to death or die for lack of water at home. It's cheaper and they don't wake you at 3 in the morning to check your blood pressure. Posted by: ryuge 2011-12-02 |
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