Edinburgh hospital put man on controversial Liverpool Care Pathway

A widow has claimed doctors put her terminally ill husband on an 'end of life pathway' without telling her, denying her the chance to share his final days with him. Liz Watson, whose husband George was admitted to a Marie Curie Hospice for respite care, hit out at doctors after his condition deteriorated rapidly.

She says Mr Watson was the 'love of her life' and 'didn't deserve to die like he did' on the pathway, which sometimes involves depriving patients of food and water. Mr Watson was diagnosed with a brain tumour 17 months before he was admitted to the hospice. from which he never came home.

His family said the 64-year-old from Liberton in Edinburgh was going shopping and 'eating three-course meals' before he rapidly declined in the centre in Fairmilehead.Mrs Watson said she only realised George was on the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway - which involves withdrawal of medication, food and fluids - when her mother recognised the signs.

A later inspection by Healthcare Improvement Scotland upheld several complaints about care standards, including poor communication about his worsening condition, and made a list of recommendations...But following a recent unannounced inspection last month, it was found many improvements had still not been carried out. The watchdog made five requirements and 11 recommendations that must be addressed 'as a matter of priority'

A spokeswoman for NHS Lothian said: 'Like every health board in Scotland, NHS Lothian is following Scottish Government guidance on the Liverpool Care Pathway and phasing it out.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2785401/Widow-claims-husband-s-days-stolen-doctors-banned-Liverpool-Care-Pathway-without-knowledge.html#ixzz3GtTPggfU

`Phasing it out` means it is still going on.

Doctors and nurses still using LCP

Some doctors and nurses are still using the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) for dying patients, an expert has claimed, despite an NHS decision to scrap the controversial care plan.

A major review recommended last year that the LCP should be phased out, following widespread criticism from the media and some patients.

The care plan, which gives doctors and nurses guidance on the management of terminally ill patients, was dubbed a "death pathway" amid allegations that patients were being placed on it without their families being told.

The Neuberger review said it should be abolished after finding many examples of poor implementation of the LCP’s guidance.

However, Dr Anthony Wrigley, a senior lecturer and specialist in medical ethics and palliative care at Keele University, said he was aware "certain institutions have gone back to relying on it"...

In June a group of leading nursing and end-of-life care organisations – the Leadership Alliance for Care of the Dying – proposed new guidelines, which placed greater emphasis on individual care plans.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/controversial-care-plan-still-in-use-despite-nhs-decision-to-scrap-it-expert-claims-9768095.html

While the NHS is being dismantled and run down this type of abuse will continue.

The NHS is under threat

The National Health Service has provided world class care, free at the point of use, to the British people for 66 years. It was recently rated as the most effective and most efficient healthcare system in the developed world, outperforming 10 of the world’s richest countries, despite the UK spending only 9.6 per cent of GDP on health – much less than most of those countries.

Under the Coalition government, the health budget has been maintained in an era of unprecedented austerity. However, historic annual increases in the health budget, designed to keep pace with a growing and ageing population, have been severely reduced – meaning that our NHS has just been through the longest, and most damaging budget squeeze in its history.

Thousands of patients are facing longer and even unacceptable waits to find out whether or not they have cancer, because services are under extreme pressure and referral targets are being missed. In mental health, patients in need of emergency support are being moved to hospitals hundreds of miles away because there simply are not enough beds in their area.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-nhs-timebomb-nhs-and-social-care-services-areat-breaking-point-it-cannot-go-on-9775928.html

More than 100 elderly a week are forced to give up their house

More than 100 homes a week are being seized from elderly people by councils to pay for their care home fees.

 

Families have been forced to hand over properties because local authorities are refusing to pay for the care.

 

The scale of the confiscations – revealed yesterday by a Freedom of Information request – will pile pressure on the Government to help the thousands of families forced to pay ruinous care fees.

 

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The Coalition promised a cap on care costs by 2016, but this will only apply to bills of £72,000 or more.

 

Up to that point, all those with assets of more than £23,250 are expected to pay their own way – even if that means selling the family home or agreeing to surrender it when their relative dies.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2770156/More-100-elderly-week-having-properties-seized-pay-care-home-fees.html#ixzz3FJvUflT5

Silver Line

 

The staggering volume of calls to 24-hour service The Silver Line reveals how a helpless army of the elderly has been suffering in silence. Now celebrity campaigner Esther Rantzen is demanding the shocking statistics act as a "wake-up call".

The veteran TV host, who set up the free and confidential line, has been stunned at the numbers phoning in, with roughly one pensioner every three minutes seeking someone to speak to.

Esther, 73, said: "This has to be a wake-up call because this is, and will continue to be, a huge ongoing issue. "I have unearthed a huge problem.

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/retirement/478400/100-000-pensioners-flood-Esther-Rantzen-s-helpline-for-the-elderly

Childline has been accused of filtering out children making sexual abuse complaints against well known people. If that happens the children are ignored.

Those telephoning Silver Line for a chat had better take care. This phone-line could have been set up to gain access to vulnerable and solitary elderly people who might then have social workers knocking on their door, especially if they are living in their own home. Local authorities can always arrange a diagnosis of dementia and then ship an old person off to a care home.  The house will be sold off to pay for their care.