The majority of hospitals in England are being given financial rewards for placing terminally-ill patients on a controversial “pathway” to death, it can be disclosed.
Almost two thirds of NHS trusts using the Liverpool Care Pathway have received payouts totalling millions of pounds for hitting targets related to its use, research for The Daily Telegraph shows.
The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the full scale of financial inducements for the first time.
They suggest that about 85 per cent of trusts have now adopted the regime, which can involve the removal of hydration and nutrition from dying patients.
More than six out of 10 of those trusts - just over half of the total - have received or are due to receive financial rewards for doing so amounting to at least £12million.
A series of cases have also come to light in which family members said they were not consulted or even informed when food and fluids were withheld from their loved-ones.
In some instances patients placed on the pathway because doctors judged that they were nearing the end of their life went on to recover.
According to responses from a sample of 72 trusts, at least £12.4 million has been paid out in the past two to three years to trusts which hit targets associated with use of the care pathway. But the full figure could be more than £20 million.
In some instances patients placed on the pathway because doctors judged that they were nearing the end of their life went on to recover.
According to responses from a sample of 72 trusts, at least £12.4 million has been paid out in the past two to three years to trusts which hit targets associated with use of the care pathway. But the full figure could be more than £20 million.
3 comments:
I have no words : (
this is shameful.
I can't believe family members were kept in the dark, paying incentives to hasten the death of people is morally wrong.
MelB
I think there are always two sides to every story.
The lack of communication has caused some problems but it is not a new idea and is rooted in good practice. It pays not to believe everything you read in newspapers.
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/11November/Pages/What-is-the-Liverpool-Care-Pathway.aspx
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