Death pathway 'not always used properly'
An independent review is expected to say the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), developed to support patients as they near death, should be phased out. The system, widely used in the NHS, can involve the withdrawal of medication, food and fluids. The review was set up last year after criticism from patients' families,
Speaking on the Today programme Lady Finlay, the president-elect of the British Medical Association, said that the pathway "was an attempt to roll out the best of hospice care out into other areas.
"By and large that has worked well but the problem has always been that it hasn't always been used properly."
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday 13 July 2013.
13 Jul 2013
- From the section Health