Doctors have to take an Hippocratic Oath. I think it's very wrong to end someones life because they are taking up a hospital bed.
Pallative care is given to terminally ill people, I know that but some people could recover.
I honestly don't think the courts should get involved either like they did in the Mail story today. :mad:
Where will it end? The thought of going into hospital now scares the life out of me.
Shipman was going around giving people morphine tothose who were elderly, they are doing the same in hospital now, they are just like him IMO.
Doctors have to take an Hippocratic Oath. I think it's very wrong to end someones life because they are taking up a hospital bed.
Pallative care is given to terminally ill people, I know that but some people could recover.
I honestly don't think the courts should get involved either like they did in the Mail story today. :mad:
Where will it end? The thought of going into hospital now scares the life out of me.
Shipman was going around giving people morphine tothose who were elderly, they are doing the same in hospital now, they are just like him IMO.
The LCP isn't designed to end life though. It's designed to provide a dignified death to those who are already dying.
I shouldn't think so. It was sort of a given that we wouldn't look too deeply in to it.
Yep this happened with my Dad and Brother and we were grateful both times
On another note my F-I-L was rushed in to hospital on Christmas day and it was thought by the Dotors he wouldn't last the night However he then seemed to rally ,needed no pain relif etc but he would never make a complete recovery as poison was seeping into his bloodstrem
Last night he took a turn for the worse and has now had all fluids withdrawn and put on a Morphine driver to let him go with dignity
Fortunately my Dad was in a care home and the home advised me to keep him there rather than in hospital where he would just be a number rather than a person.
So sorry you've lost your dad this year. Four years ago, my dad was kept in a white hospital room for two months, in isolation. He'd had a stroke three years before and it was a progressive one. He had pneumonia for the last 4-5 months of his life, couldn't swallow or do anything for himself. He was fitted with a gastric feeding tube which, in hindsight, only prolonged his suffering. Thankfully, they discharged him back to the care home he was previously in just before he died and the only comfort I had was knowing that he was somewhere where they had looked after him very well. It was a truly horrible death and if I'd known what I know now, I would have asked the hospital staff to let him go the first time he was taken into resus. He was 70 and, perhaps if he'd been older, there might have been less inclination to keep him going. If anything, my dad had the opposite to the LCP....they tried to prolong his life at all costs.
It's left me with mixed feelings. Despite the efforts of the hospital staff, he died anyway but had to suffer on for four unnecessary months when he had no quality of life whatsoever. All the same, if they had refused to implement any of the measures they tried in order to help him, would I have fought for keeping him alive? I wasn't fully aware of how wretched things were about to become. Hindsight's a great thing.
The one thing that does matter in all this is that, as the person who had to make the key decisions on his behalf, I would have liked to feel (and did, up to a point) that I was being informed about the clinical decisions being made on his behalf, and that my views were being taken into account.
What's galling is that, for some re: the LCP, this doesn't seem to have been the case. I'm glad something's being done about it.
I read the article in the link below a few weeks ago. The lady's family were told her body had begun closing down, and 'she might no longer want or need food or drink'. I don't understand why they do this. Surely if a person's body has started shutting down due to terminal illness then giving them a drink and some food if they can manage it isn't going to prevent them dying, but will at least keep them as comfortable as possible? But if they last for several days then presumably they will be starving and dehydrated by the time they take their last breath. How can that be a dignified death?
I read the article in the link below a few weeks ago. The lady's family were told her body had begun closing down, and 'she might no longer want or need food or drink'. I don't understand why they do this. Surely if a person's body has started shutting down due to terminal illness then giving them a drink and some food if they can manage it isn't going to prevent them dying, but will at least keep them as comfortable as possible? But if they last for several days then presumably they will be starving and dehydrated by the time they take their last breath. How can that be a dignified death?
The LCP isn't designed to end life though. It's designed to provide a dignified death to those who are already dying.
Soft words don't disguise it's a nice legal way to get rid of you.
Once Dad has joined Mum, and I'm on my own if I have a heart attack or feel a stroke coming on or catch pneumonia, I'm going to do nothing about it. I'll chose the nature of my demise, not some hospital bureaucrat wanting to save money and free up a bed, in fact I'd rather die in a bus stop on a winter day or on the bus going to town to do my shopping then via the LCP. :mad:
I read the article in the link below a few weeks ago. The lady's family were told her body had begun closing down, and 'she might no longer want or need food or drink'. I don't understand why they do this. Surely if a person's body has started shutting down due to terminal illness then giving them a drink and some food if they can manage it isn't going to prevent them dying, but will at least keep them as comfortable as possible? But if they last for several days then presumably they will be starving and dehydrated by the time they take their last breath. How can that be a dignified death?
In reality though as the law stands letting people 'slip away' means withdrawing food and water and they die due to lack of both. If the law really wanted to aid people to die with dignity then it would find a way of allowing euthanasia as we do with animals who are in great pain and distress.
I was speaking from my own experience with the LCP, perhaps should have pointed hat out in my original post.
Does your experience match with what I had posted from AgeUK?
My sister died of cancer last year; I saw her the day before she died when she was unconscious, on morphine, no nutrition etc. Didn't know it was the LCP at the time, but to me that was as close to a dignified death as she could have had.
I totally agree with people questioning the process of palliative care, how it's administered etc. But I don't feel the DM reports it in a balanced way and it seems to scaremonger a lot more rather than report what the LCP is supposed to be. If the LCP is not being applied properly then that is what needs to be investigated IMHO.
Soft words don't disguise it's a nice legal way to get rid of you.
Once Dad has joined Mum, and I'm on my own if I have a heart attack or feel a stroke coming on or catch pneumonia, I'm going to do nothing about it. I'll chose the nature of my demise, not some hospital bureaucrat wanting to save money and free up a bed, in fact I'd rather die in a bus stop on a winter day or on the bus going to town to do my shopping then via the LCP. :mad:
it seems a lot of people think all we want to do in hospitals is 'free up a bed'
part of my job is coordinating the admissions out of hours. certainly I dont go on wards and ask them to put patients on the LCP when we are a bit full, this just does not happen
we try to find the most appropriate place for patients to be, sometimes this is not in a hospital, it is a hospice for example. but we dont move patients there to free up a bed, but to ensure they are getting the best care for their condition.
it pisses me right off that people think nurses and doctors dont care about their patients, in the main that is just not the case
Soft words don't disguise it's a nice legal way to get rid of you.
Once Dad has joined Mum, and I'm on my own if I have a heart attack or feel a stroke coming on or catch pneumonia, I'm going to do nothing about it. I'll chose the nature of my demise, not some hospital bureaucrat wanting to save money and free up a bed, in fact I'd rather die in a bus stop on a winter day or on the bus going to town to do my shopping then via the LCP. :mad:
I guess you didn't read the link then? It isn't a way to get rid of anybody. It's a way to ease distress and suffering from unnecessary interventions for people who are already dying.
I provide palliative care for many elderly people. I have found that the LCP provides a more dignified and comfortable death for these people. The LCP ensures that all personal care, mouth care etc remains in place and we ensure they are as pain free as possible. Patients have to reach a certain stage in the process of dying before they are put onto the LCP. With regards to the withdrawing of medication, this is done when a person is no longer capable of taking medication and that medicine is no longer of benefit to them. This has to be reviewed by a doctor. People can of course improve, and can be taken off the LCP but this is rare. I have seen patients dying horrible, undignified deaths and I feel this is so the better option. The documentation has to be completed at regular intervals through the day and the patient is given a score on comfort levels, pain etc. This way a decision can be made if pain relief needs increasing. All the relatives of the dying have always been happy that we, as nursing staff, have done everything in our power to ensure a peaceful, pain free death for their mum or dad. Something I imagine most of you would want for your relatives or yourself.
Oh I read the link, and they would say that. But its still a convenient way to get rid of you to save money and free up a bed like I suspect they did to Mum.
And for that I will hate them to my dieing day, and the way Mum was moved around the hospital like a parcel in her last time there when Mum had an angina attack before Mum had a brain seizure after she had been home for just 1 day. :mad:
I do not trust hospitals, and nursing homes are just a waiting room for death.
I provide palliative care for many elderly people. I have found that the LCP provides a more dignified and comfortable death for these people. The LCP ensures that all personal care, mouth care etc remains in place and we ensure they are as pain free as possible. Patients have to reach a certain stage in the process of dying before they are put onto the LCP. With regards to the withdrawing of medication, this is done when a person is no longer capable of taking medication and that medicine is no longer of benefit to them. This has to be reviewed by a doctor. People can of course improve, and can be taken off the LCP but this is rare. I have seen patients dying horrible, undignified deaths and I feel this is so the better option. The documentation has to be completed at regular intervals through the day and the patient is given a score on comfort levels, pain etc. This way a decision can be made if pain relief needs increasing. All the relatives of the dying have always been happy that we, as nursing staff, have done everything in our power to ensure a peaceful, pain free death for their mum or dad. Something I imagine most of you would want for your relatives or yourself.
I think a lot of problems with the public perception of the LCP itself have been caused by a few hospitals where the correct communication with the family didn't happen. Whether it's down to official language being used and families not taking in what they're being told or whether it's just down to someone thinking another person has had the talk with the family I don't know. While most medical staff will try their hardest there will always be the odd few who let the rest down.
I think a lot of problems with the public perception of the LCP itself have been caused by a few hospitals where the correct communication with the family didn't happen. Whether it's down to official language being used and families not taking in what they're being told or whether it's just down to someone thinking another person has had the talk with the family I don't know. While most medical staff will try their hardest there will always be the odd few who let the rest down.
I think that sometimes relatives do not believe what they are being told as they are afraid of those final few moments. They do not want to believe their relative is dying. You cannot give oral food or fluids to someone who is unconscious, yet I had a gentleman try to give his mother a cup of tea as he was so concerned about her lack of intake. She then choked on this and inhaled it which led to aspirational pneumonia, meaning her death was more traumatic than it should have been. I can understand his fears and empathise with their feelings. Sub-cut fluids can be given, but if the person is at the stage where they are put onto the LCP, this is just prolonging the inevitable. In my experience, I have found that people on the LCP generally die within a couple of days. The longest I have known was a lady who was on it for a week.
I think that sometimes relatives do not believe what they are being told as they are afraid of those final few moments. They do not want to believe their relative is dying. You cannot give oral food or fluids to someone who is unconscious, yet I had a gentleman try to give his mother a cup of tea as he was so concerned about her lack of intake. She then choked on this and inhaled it which led to aspirational pneumonia, meaning her death was more traumatic than it should have been. I can understand his fears and empathise with their feelings. Sub-cut fluids can be given, but if the person is at the stage where they are put onto the LCP, this is just prolonging the inevitable. In my experience, I have found that people on the LCP generally die within a couple of days. The longest I have known was a lady who was on it for a week.
My gran had the drip removed no fluids or food and morphine for two weeks before she died. I wonder if she was on something different
My gran had the drip removed no fluids or food and morphine for two weeks before she died. I wonder if she was on something different
I don't know where your gran was treated but that sounds awful and am sorry if she suffered. We ensure that morphine is available at all times right up until the time of death. We observe for any signs of pain, such as the patient being unsettled or moaning. This can then be given maximum 4 hourly along with anti sickness medication. We would certainly hope that the patient was not left for 2 weeks without any form of nourishment. This does seem very cruel. I only have experience of the LCP within my own setting and cannot comment on how other hospitals/nursing homes practice.
I provide palliative care for many elderly people. I have found that the LCP provides a more dignified and comfortable death for these people. The LCP ensures that all personal care, mouth care etc remains in place and we ensure they are as pain free as possible. Patients have to reach a certain stage in the process of dying before they are put onto the LCP. With regards to the withdrawing of medication, this is done when a person is no longer capable of taking medication and that medicine is no longer of benefit to them. This has to be reviewed by a doctor. People can of course improve, and can be taken off the LCP but this is rare. I have seen patients dying horrible, undignified deaths and I feel this is so the better option. The documentation has to be completed at regular intervals through the day and the patient is given a score on comfort levels, pain etc. This way a decision can be made if pain relief needs increasing. All the relatives of the dying have always been happy that we, as nursing staff, have done everything in our power to ensure a peaceful, pain free death for their mum or dad. Something I imagine most of you would want for your relatives or yourself.
Well said.
I am a district nursing sister and it is part of my role to commence dying individuals on the end of life pathway. It is simply a structured care plan which allows nurses to attend to every aspect of need. Pain levels, mouthcare, pressure area care, incontinence etc.,
As district nurses we have usually known the person and their families for some time - as they are usually referred to our service when first diagnosed with a terminal illness - which may not always be cancer. The decision to commence the pathway is taken by the GP, myself (or another senior nurse if I am not on duty), the patient and their family.
This decision is only taken when their overall condition as deteriorated to such an extent death is expected within days. As an experienced nurse we use our skills to inform the family about these signs of deterioration and keep them informed at all times and consider all views. Once on the pathway we visit several times a day to moniter the patients condition and support the family. A syringe driver with medication is only necessary if pain or other symptoms become problematic. I have known patients be on the pathway without need of any medications whatsoever.
Food and drink is NEVER withheld if the patient is able to swallow without the risk of choking. We advise the family to give their loved ones sips of fluid and easy to swallow food such as ice cream, yoghurts etc., if the patient wishes it. However, many people nearing the end of their lives are semiconscious or are too weak to swallow and giving fluids can cause them to inhale liquid which can lead to aspirational pneumonia which can cause breathlessness and other symptoms which can be distressing.
Drugs which are commonly used in syringe drivers are medications for pain, nausea & vomiting, excessive respiratory secretions and agitation. The drugs are only used if needed and they are all prescribed within a range. The mininum dose is always given initially and we increase the dose as needed. We never under any circumstances given more medication than is necessary - for that would be illegal. The aim is to control symptoms. However, the medication can hasten death but the intent is to control symptoms only. It is the intent which is the important point.
Articles such as this can only cause fear and make it harder for medical professionals to ensure the dying have a peaceful and dignified death.
Please do your own research as regards the Liverpool Care Pathway. We have been using it for years.... I would want it for myself and my loved ones at the end of my life.
Please do not allow the ignorant wailings of hack journalists to undo all the good work palliative care health professionals and hospices have developed over the years.
My grampa had stomach cancer and they gave him too much morphine on purpose. It wasn't murder to me and I think it goes on a little already. I wouldn't want a doctor or nurse sacked, but I would want that registrated.
I done some care work with another carer, she had been doing it for at least 20 years and this was my first palative care lady, it was quite a shock to me when I saw the nurse do this, obviously it didn't kill the lady outright but it was more than what should of been given, I never knew this kind of thing went on, maybe I was just nieve to what happens but her family were aware of what the nurse was doing and the lady I worked with said she's never met a family who hadn't agreed to this happening because I would of thought that someone would of spoken up and said they didnt want it done but no, everyone was agreed to what happened, I must say though if I saw someone in that much pain crippled by cancer and not really in her body as she should of been I would of agreed to that to be done to one of my family members too and If I ever got to a stage like that in my life I would rather be at home in my bed having that done than in a busy hospital where maybe its too busy to get the full care and attention you may need.
I've worked in carehomes and been around when people have died and in these cases it was obvious that they were going to pass so we never left them alone, always sat by their side with them or their families if they wanted us there and its so heartbreaking knowing they are going to go but you need to be so strong for the families and I think sometimes that can be see as being a bit heartless to others in the room, its one of those things in life that really make you appreciate what you have in your life, I can tell you that for sure. I hope by the time I'm older euthanasia is legal because seeing people laid in beds unable to move and talk getting so upset no matter how much you try to comfort them it's heartbreaking, people should be allowed dignity and be able to pass when they want to not when nature takes its toll.
I done some care work with another carer, she had been doing it for at least 20 years and this was my first palative care lady, it was quite a shock to me when I saw the nurse do this, obviously it didn't kill the lady outright but it was more than what should of been given, I never knew this kind of thing went on, maybe I was just nieve to what happens but her family were aware of what the nurse was doing and the lady I worked with said she's never met a family who hadn't agreed to this happening because I would of thought that someone would of spoken up and said they didnt want it done but no, everyone was agreed to what happened, I must say though if I saw someone in that much pain crippled by cancer and not really in her body as she should of been I would of agreed to that to be done to one of my family members too and If I ever got to a stage like that in my life I would rather be at home in my bed having that done than in a busy hospital where maybe its too busy to get the full care and attention you may need.
I've worked in carehomes and been around when people have died and in these cases it was obvious that they were going to pass so we never left them alone, always sat by their side with them or their families if they wanted us there and its so heartbreaking knowing they are going to go but you need to be so strong for the families and I think sometimes that can be see as being a bit heartless to others in the room, its one of those things in life that really make you appreciate what you have in your life, I can tell you that for sure. I hope by the time I'm older euthanasia is legal because seeing people laid in beds unable to move and talk getting so upset no matter how much you try to comfort them it's heartbreaking, people should be allowed dignity and be able to pass when they want to not when nature takes its toll.
Not sure I understand this. What is too much morphine? The minimum is given to ensure pain relief....if the pain is relieved that is not too much morphine. There are written prescribing protocols which must be adhered too by all nurses and doctors. To not do so is illegal.
All details as regards the prescription and administration of morphine is thoroughly regulated, documented and recorded by nurses and always signed and dated by a second nurse/doctor.
Any morphine left unused is destroyed and all documented by two nurses - and no we do not pour it down the sink.
LCP is a total cop out. It is euthanasia by another name, where some in the medical profession have convinced themselves its "care" . Ironically the very people administering this most barbaric form of euthanasia are the most outspoken people against proper controlled and regualte euthanasia . Hypocrites and liars the lot of them
Ever heard them say "the pain can be managed"? This is what they mean ...to stop an agonising death in March we will use the LCP on them in Feb, Perhaps there is nothing wrong with that, but at least be open about what the "care" actually is.
All this suffering could be ended over night if we had proper Euthanasia laws
Comments
some of Shipmans victims werent elderley
The LCP isn't designed to end life though. It's designed to provide a dignified death to those who are already dying.
Exactly.
Yep this happened with my Dad and Brother and we were grateful both times
On another note my F-I-L was rushed in to hospital on Christmas day and it was thought by the Dotors he wouldn't last the night
Last night he took a turn for the worse and has now had all fluids withdrawn and put on a Morphine driver to let him go with dignity
So sorry you've lost your dad this year. Four years ago, my dad was kept in a white hospital room for two months, in isolation. He'd had a stroke three years before and it was a progressive one. He had pneumonia for the last 4-5 months of his life, couldn't swallow or do anything for himself. He was fitted with a gastric feeding tube which, in hindsight, only prolonged his suffering. Thankfully, they discharged him back to the care home he was previously in just before he died and the only comfort I had was knowing that he was somewhere where they had looked after him very well. It was a truly horrible death and if I'd known what I know now, I would have asked the hospital staff to let him go the first time he was taken into resus. He was 70 and, perhaps if he'd been older, there might have been less inclination to keep him going. If anything, my dad had the opposite to the LCP....they tried to prolong his life at all costs.
It's left me with mixed feelings. Despite the efforts of the hospital staff, he died anyway but had to suffer on for four unnecessary months when he had no quality of life whatsoever. All the same, if they had refused to implement any of the measures they tried in order to help him, would I have fought for keeping him alive? I wasn't fully aware of how wretched things were about to become. Hindsight's a great thing.
The one thing that does matter in all this is that, as the person who had to make the key decisions on his behalf, I would have liked to feel (and did, up to a point) that I was being informed about the clinical decisions being made on his behalf, and that my views were being taken into account.
What's galling is that, for some re: the LCP, this doesn't seem to have been the case. I'm glad something's being done about it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2244270/Moments-coming-Care-Pathway-mother-enjoying-G-T-scrambled-eggs--lived-seven-precious-weeks.html
but I believe it is actually being employed to do such a thing, a form of involuntary euthanasia.
Did you look at the first link I posted which outlines what the LCP is and what it is not?
I was speaking from my own experience with the LCP, perhaps should have pointed hat out in my original post.
Soft words don't disguise it's a nice legal way to get rid of you.
Once Dad has joined Mum, and I'm on my own if I have a heart attack or feel a stroke coming on or catch pneumonia, I'm going to do nothing about it. I'll chose the nature of my demise, not some hospital bureaucrat wanting to save money and free up a bed, in fact I'd rather die in a bus stop on a winter day or on the bus going to town to do my shopping then via the LCP. :mad:
In reality though as the law stands letting people 'slip away' means withdrawing food and water and they die due to lack of both. If the law really wanted to aid people to die with dignity then it would find a way of allowing euthanasia as we do with animals who are in great pain and distress.
Does your experience match with what I had posted from AgeUK?
My sister died of cancer last year; I saw her the day before she died when she was unconscious, on morphine, no nutrition etc. Didn't know it was the LCP at the time, but to me that was as close to a dignified death as she could have had.
I totally agree with people questioning the process of palliative care, how it's administered etc. But I don't feel the DM reports it in a balanced way and it seems to scaremonger a lot more rather than report what the LCP is supposed to be. If the LCP is not being applied properly then that is what needs to be investigated IMHO.
it seems a lot of people think all we want to do in hospitals is 'free up a bed'
part of my job is coordinating the admissions out of hours. certainly I dont go on wards and ask them to put patients on the LCP when we are a bit full, this just does not happen
we try to find the most appropriate place for patients to be, sometimes this is not in a hospital, it is a hospice for example. but we dont move patients there to free up a bed, but to ensure they are getting the best care for their condition.
it pisses me right off that people think nurses and doctors dont care about their patients, in the main that is just not the case
I guess you didn't read the link then? It isn't a way to get rid of anybody. It's a way to ease distress and suffering from unnecessary interventions for people who are already dying.
And for that I will hate them to my dieing day, and the way Mum was moved around the hospital like a parcel in her last time there when Mum had an angina attack before Mum had a brain seizure after she had been home for just 1 day. :mad:
I do not trust hospitals, and nursing homes are just a waiting room for death.
I think a lot of problems with the public perception of the LCP itself have been caused by a few hospitals where the correct communication with the family didn't happen. Whether it's down to official language being used and families not taking in what they're being told or whether it's just down to someone thinking another person has had the talk with the family I don't know. While most medical staff will try their hardest there will always be the odd few who let the rest down.
I think that sometimes relatives do not believe what they are being told as they are afraid of those final few moments. They do not want to believe their relative is dying. You cannot give oral food or fluids to someone who is unconscious, yet I had a gentleman try to give his mother a cup of tea as he was so concerned about her lack of intake. She then choked on this and inhaled it which led to aspirational pneumonia, meaning her death was more traumatic than it should have been. I can understand his fears and empathise with their feelings. Sub-cut fluids can be given, but if the person is at the stage where they are put onto the LCP, this is just prolonging the inevitable. In my experience, I have found that people on the LCP generally die within a couple of days. The longest I have known was a lady who was on it for a week.
My gran had the drip removed no fluids or food and morphine for two weeks before she died. I wonder if she was on something different
I don't know where your gran was treated but that sounds awful and am sorry if she suffered. We ensure that morphine is available at all times right up until the time of death. We observe for any signs of pain, such as the patient being unsettled or moaning. This can then be given maximum 4 hourly along with anti sickness medication. We would certainly hope that the patient was not left for 2 weeks without any form of nourishment. This does seem very cruel. I only have experience of the LCP within my own setting and cannot comment on how other hospitals/nursing homes practice.
Well said.
I am a district nursing sister and it is part of my role to commence dying individuals on the end of life pathway. It is simply a structured care plan which allows nurses to attend to every aspect of need. Pain levels, mouthcare, pressure area care, incontinence etc.,
As district nurses we have usually known the person and their families for some time - as they are usually referred to our service when first diagnosed with a terminal illness - which may not always be cancer. The decision to commence the pathway is taken by the GP, myself (or another senior nurse if I am not on duty), the patient and their family.
This decision is only taken when their overall condition as deteriorated to such an extent death is expected within days. As an experienced nurse we use our skills to inform the family about these signs of deterioration and keep them informed at all times and consider all views. Once on the pathway we visit several times a day to moniter the patients condition and support the family. A syringe driver with medication is only necessary if pain or other symptoms become problematic. I have known patients be on the pathway without need of any medications whatsoever.
Food and drink is NEVER withheld if the patient is able to swallow without the risk of choking. We advise the family to give their loved ones sips of fluid and easy to swallow food such as ice cream, yoghurts etc., if the patient wishes it. However, many people nearing the end of their lives are semiconscious or are too weak to swallow and giving fluids can cause them to inhale liquid which can lead to aspirational pneumonia which can cause breathlessness and other symptoms which can be distressing.
Drugs which are commonly used in syringe drivers are medications for pain, nausea & vomiting, excessive respiratory secretions and agitation. The drugs are only used if needed and they are all prescribed within a range. The mininum dose is always given initially and we increase the dose as needed. We never under any circumstances given more medication than is necessary - for that would be illegal. The aim is to control symptoms. However, the medication can hasten death but the intent is to control symptoms only. It is the intent which is the important point.
Articles such as this can only cause fear and make it harder for medical professionals to ensure the dying have a peaceful and dignified death.
Please do your own research as regards the Liverpool Care Pathway. We have been using it for years.... I would want it for myself and my loved ones at the end of my life.
Please do not allow the ignorant wailings of hack journalists to undo all the good work palliative care health professionals and hospices have developed over the years.
I done some care work with another carer, she had been doing it for at least 20 years and this was my first palative care lady, it was quite a shock to me when I saw the nurse do this, obviously it didn't kill the lady outright but it was more than what should of been given, I never knew this kind of thing went on, maybe I was just nieve to what happens but her family were aware of what the nurse was doing and the lady I worked with said she's never met a family who hadn't agreed to this happening because I would of thought that someone would of spoken up and said they didnt want it done but no, everyone was agreed to what happened, I must say though if I saw someone in that much pain crippled by cancer and not really in her body as she should of been I would of agreed to that to be done to one of my family members too and If I ever got to a stage like that in my life I would rather be at home in my bed having that done than in a busy hospital where maybe its too busy to get the full care and attention you may need.
I've worked in carehomes and been around when people have died and in these cases it was obvious that they were going to pass so we never left them alone, always sat by their side with them or their families if they wanted us there and its so heartbreaking knowing they are going to go but you need to be so strong for the families and I think sometimes that can be see as being a bit heartless to others in the room, its one of those things in life that really make you appreciate what you have in your life, I can tell you that for sure. I hope by the time I'm older euthanasia is legal because seeing people laid in beds unable to move and talk getting so upset no matter how much you try to comfort them it's heartbreaking, people should be allowed dignity and be able to pass when they want to not when nature takes its toll.
Not sure I understand this. What is too much morphine? The minimum is given to ensure pain relief....if the pain is relieved that is not too much morphine. There are written prescribing protocols which must be adhered too by all nurses and doctors. To not do so is illegal.
All details as regards the prescription and administration of morphine is thoroughly regulated, documented and recorded by nurses and always signed and dated by a second nurse/doctor.
Any morphine left unused is destroyed and all documented by two nurses - and no we do not pour it down the sink.
Ever heard them say "the pain can be managed"? This is what they mean ...to stop an agonising death in March we will use the LCP on them in Feb, Perhaps there is nothing wrong with that, but at least be open about what the "care" actually is.
All this suffering could be ended over night if we had proper Euthanasia laws