It must be these dark, post-festive days of the new year that set me thinking about the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient.
The LCP, as it is known for short, is the guidebook for giving terminal cases a gentle nudge into eternity.
Patients for whom doctors consider nothing can be done are put on the pathway. Treatments and medication are discontinued. Clinicians are "prompted to consider whether clinically-assisted nutrition or hydration is needed and is in the person's best interests".
I worry when some doctors say patients are being put on the pathway unnecessarily. I worry when the NHS pays financial incentives to health trusts to get more patients on an accelerated road to death.
It is disconcerting to hear Jeremy Hunt, the Westminster Health Secretary, describe the Liverpool Care Pathway as "a fantastic step forward" in allowing death with dignity. The same Mr Hunt who as Culture Secretary thought it was a fantastic idea to hand control of almost all our TV to Rupert Murdoch.
The most shocking aspect (apart from hospital trusts getting bonuses for re-shuffling departures from this mortal coil) is that half the patients don't know they are on the pathway. Me, I would rather know if I was being pointed to the exit.
I will have to carry a card saying that in the event of imminent death I am not to be placed on the LPC. It will state my preference of going on a pathway which involves hydration (assisted if necessary) with the very best of red wines. With regular supplements of the finest brandies. Could the nurse peel me a grape ? And leave the oxygen mask off while I smoke a large Havana cigar?
In fact, the last few weeks have seemed to be a trial run of a pathway of death by indulgence. People have been trying to kill me all through the Christmas and New Year period. Truffles, Belgian chocolates, entire selection boxes all designed to trigger the Type 2 diabetes peripheral nephritis. Go on, have a drink and damage your liver. This large cheeseboard will only make you a teensy bit more obese.
PS: If you're looking for a pathway, avoid Shettleston. That's the one where on average you die 15 years younger than the folk who live in leafier and wealthier parts of the UK.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article