TheHodCarrier
9 years ago
I tried but I think failed, to comment to Dr Collin's piece last
week.
There is something in that PHSO report
which is a bit unclear - I sent an e-mail to the PHSO the day after the report
came out, and I'll reproduce my e-mail as it is self explanatory:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I heard the
Ombudsman talking about your report 'Dying without dignity' on BBC Radio 4
yesterday morning, and I read the report yesterday evening (because I am
engaged in 'this EoL debate').
Can you please
clear something up for me ?
When you describe
the 'Mr J' case, on page 15, you tell us that:
'Two months
later, Mr J was admitted to hospital because he was struggling to breathe. Once
he was on a ward, his pain relief was stopped because it was thought he was
becoming too dependent on it. He was started on pain relief again the next day,
but by that point Mr J was severely agitated and in pain. He died in the early
hours of the following morning. '
In your
'findings' you state:
'Mr J’s pain
relief was inappropriately stopped'
I would like to be 100% clear, about what
you are saying (further on, you write 'In addition, we found that the
clinicians treating Mr J recognised that he was at the end of his life but did
not explain this to his family in a way they could understand.').
Are you stating,
that THE CLINICIANS WHO 'stopped his pain relief because they felt he was
becoming too dependent on it' KNEW WHEN THEY WITHDREW the pain relief, that Mr
J would die within a few days ?
Because IF THEY
DID, then my comment is more 'visceral' than your 'inappropriately' - I've just
sent an e-mail to Bee Wee at NHS England about 'Mr J' (see below my sign off),
Regards,
Mike Stone
The PHSO says:
'Mr J’s pain
relief was inappropriately stopped ' AND later 'we found that the clinicians
treating Mr J recognised that he was at the end of his life '. It isn't 100%
clear, whether the PHSO are saying that the clinicans who withdrew the pain
relief, knew that Mr J was in the final days of life - I intend to ask the PHSO
(which doesn't mean I'll get an answer).
I don't apologise
for my language, if they did - how the hell can someone be 'too dependent on
pain relief' during the final days of life !!!
