End-of-life care

End-Of-Life ‘Death Pathway’ Banned In 2014, Still Alive

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End-Of-Life ‘Death Pathway’ Banned In 2014 Still AliveNiamh Harris – Elderly and vulnerable people in the UK are still being put on an end-of-life ‘death pathway’, despite the fact that it was officially abolished nearly a decade ago according to a new report.

The Liverpool Care Pathway, was a series of controversial guidelines that involved the withdrawal of life-saving treatment from dying patients, was banned in 2014 after reports that people were put on it who might otherwise have survived.

A report commissioned by MPs and peers and due to be published on Tuesday, will conclude the LCP is still being practiced ‘in all but name’. Continue reading →

U.K. End-Of-Life Program Axed

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WND  July 19 2013

‘In the wrong hands, the pathway has been used as an excuse for poor quality care’

(New Scientist) Stories of dying patients being denied drinks and unnecessarily sedated by nurses have this week triggered the demise of a controversial system of end-of-life care in the UK.

End-of-life careThe Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) was introduced a decade ago into the UK’s National Health Service, and was meant to import into hospitals and care homes the same kind of end-of-life procedures successfully developed and applied in hospices.

These included halting futile treatment and drugs when death is expected within hours or days, increasing pain relief if necessary and summoning and consulting with relatives on where the patient would prefer to die, and how best to handle the patient’s last hours.

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