The Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group have presented a document entitled When “end of life care” Goes Wrong to Parliament on the initiative of Carla Lockhart MP. The convenor of the group was The Rev Lynda Rose.
It is a disturbing read, and addresses the situation which follows the ending of the Liverpool Care Pathway in 2014 .
The report is based on over 600 cases, 16 of which are considered in detail by Professor Sam Ahmedzai , a distinguished consultant in terminal care, and Mr Jamie Bogle, a barrister with experience of such cases. They claim that they are only seeing the “tip of the iceberg”.
If you have an experience of the care and treatment of a loved one, which fell a long way below the death with dignity and peace that we all hope for, then you may consider going to your MP. This could be of interest to parliamentarians who alone are able to address the recommendations in the report.
The full text of the report is published by Voice for Justice and can be purchased online. You may also be interested in reading a piece on a similar topic in this recent issue of the CMQ.
Free advice and support is available from Marie Curie on 0800 090 2309. For information you may go to National Guidance for End of Life Care on line. Marie Curie also provide a range of free booklets.
For reference, the parliamentary approved professional guidance is entitled End of Life Care ( N G 31 ) 16/12/15
You are entitled to a discussion with the doctor in change be it G P or hospital consultant.
It may be helpful to have another family member or close person with you during discussions and keep your own written note of what is said.
You may resort to a complaint’s procedure and Constituent MP s are often very helpful with this.