The last update in the Scottish Partnership for Palliative care is still singing the praises of the Liverpool Care Pathway:
It discusses misconceptions and explains how it works:
- Requires staff ensure all decisions to either continue or to stop a treatment are taken in the best interest of each patient. It is not always easy to tell whether someone is very close to death – a decision to consider using the Liverpool Care Pathway should always be made by the most senior doctor available, with help from all the other staff involved in a person’s care. It should be countersigned as soon as possible by the doctor responsible for the person’s care.
Read more http://www.palliativecarescotland.org.uk/content/lcp/
There is more collaborative work to be done with stakeholders (?) and in due course a report. So there is no sense of urgency about getting end-of-life-care right and no acknowledgement that in thousands of cases it has gone horribly wrong. Nothing is said about patients who are placed on the LCP at the week-end when no senior doctor is available.
Given that these decisions involve the use of syringe drivers, anticipatory prescribing, use of sedation and narcotics and limitation of hydration and nutrition we really do need to know that the patient is actually dying. But that`s the problem.
Can we trust them ?
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