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thomas davison

NHS patients being placed on controversial 'death pathway' by doctors who have never previously been involved in their care

Claims Liverpool Care Pathway patients left to die based on 'bedside evidence' only
Medics tell Channel 4's Dispatches that situation is 'inhumane'

By Mail On Sunday

PUBLISHED: 22:02, 2 March 2013 | UPDATED: 22:02, 2 March 2013

Leading doctors have claimed NHS patients are being routinely placed on the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway by out-of-hours medics who are �strangers� who have never been involved in their care.

The claims suggest patients are often left to die on the end-of-life regime, which involves being deprived of drugs, food and water, after doctors make decisions based on �bedside evidence� alone and without fully understanding the patients� condition or medical history.

The Liverpool Care Pathway is designed to ease suffering in the final hours or days of those suffering a terminal illness.
Hospitals can no longer reap financial rewards by putting patients on the Liverpool Care Pathway, a scheme that governs the treatment of the seriously ill

Hospitals will no longer be able to reap financial bonuses by putting patients on the Liverpool Care Pathway, a scheme that governs the treatment of the seriously ill. File picture

But the Government is reviewing the procedure after relatives complained their loved ones were placed on it without their knowledge. Now doctors speaking to Channel 4�s Dispatches programme, to be broadcast tomorrow evening, have described the situation as �inhumane�.
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'A dog would have been treated better': Daughter's heartbreak over father's death after he was put on Liverpool Care Pathway without family's permission

The programme highlights the case of Sammy De Francisci, who was put on the pathway by out-of-hours doctors after suffering a series of strokes and dementia but went on to live for a further 14 months after his own doctor reversed the decision.

The Liverpool Care Pathway has been the subject of much debate since it was introduced in the 1990s.

More than 130,000 people are put on it each year but it was revealed in December 60,000 patients die on the procedure each year without giving their consent.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has backed the Liverpool Care Pathway as giving terminally ill patients a dignified end

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has backed the Liverpool Care Pathway as giving terminally ill patients a dignified end

Concerns have been raised that clinical judgments are being skewed by incentives for hospitals to use the pathway.

Health trusts are thought to have been rewarded with an extra �30million for putting more patients on the LCP.

Critics say it is a self-fulfilling prophecy because there is no scientific method of predicting when death will come.

Norman Lamb, the care services minister, launched a review in November, saying there had been too many cases of families not being consulted and hospitals will not longer be able to make financial gains from the procedure.

But some people say it allows the terminally ill to die with dignity. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said last year the scheme is a 'fantastic step forward' for those who are near death and that it is designed to bring 'hospice-style care' to hospitals.

Murderers - whichever way you look at it.

thomas davison · Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 11:53 am Post subject:

NHS starves 1,165 to death
AT LEAST 1,165 people have starved to death in NHS hospitals over the past four years.
By: Lucy Johnston
Published: Sun, March 3, 2013

Hospital-food-is-often-taken-away-untouched Hospital food is often taken away untouched

Many more are left thirsty. Figures show that for �every patient who dies of malnutrition about four more have dehydration mentioned on their death certificate.

Critics say food and drink are often placed out of reach of vulnerable patients and taken away untouched because nurses are too busy to help them eat.

Charities last night demanded urgent action to cut the shocking death toll.

Dianne Jeffrey, chairwoman of the Malnutrition Task Force, said: �Too many are paying the price with their lives while being deprived of the basic right to good nutrition, hydration and support.�

Dr Tim Bowling, of charity BAPEN, which raises awareness of malnutrition, said the figures from the Office for National Statistics were an underestimate.

In 2011 as many as 291 patients died in a state of severe malnutrition and 43 starved to death. In the same period the number of patients discharged from hospital suffering from malnutrition doubled to 5,558, more than 100 a week.

Last July an inquest heard a cancer patient died of thirst in St George�s Hospital, Tooting, south London, despite begging staff for a drink. Kane Gorny, 22, was denied medication that controlled his fluid levels after a hip replacement.

He dialled 999 because he was so desperate but police were turned away by staff. The inquest was told that Mr Gorny was restrained by security guards and sedated. In a recent legal case, Worcestershire NHS Trust apologised to the families of 38 patients who suffered what lawyers described as �appalling levels of care� in hospital.

NurseNurses are too busy to feed patients

Too many are paying the price with their lives while being deprived of the basic right to good nutrition, hydration and support.

Dianne Jeffrey, chairwoman of the Malnutrition Task Force

Many were left thirsty and starving. Betty Leighton, 70, died neglected and malnourished at the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, in April 2011. Her family claim she was not fed intravenously when it was �obvious� she could not swallow.

Emma Jones, a human rights lawyer with Leigh Day & Co, which brought the legal action, said: �The failings we uncovered were appalling. Vulnerable and elderly patients were left starving and thirsty, drinks out of reach, buzzers ignored.�

In a statement, the trust said the cases were old and it now had the sixth best mortality rate in the area.

The Department of Health said it had increased the number of unannounced hospital inspections by the Care Quality Commission watchdog and was working to reduce the amount of time nurses spent on paperwork.

The Office for National Statistics, which released the figures under Freedom of Information laws, said it was not possible to determine how far hospitals were to blame for patients starving or becoming dehydrated because some had underlying conditions that made it difficult to eat or drink.