London's Daily Telegraph has published a letter from group of experts who care for the terminally ill who claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.
In accordance with National Health Service guidelines introduced across England to help doctors and medical staffs in England can deal with dying patients by ceasing to provide fluid and drugs to such patients and putting them on continuous sedation until they pass away. The rub is that this approach also can mask signs of improvement in a patient's condition, according to the experts.
Consequently, the letter state, the scheme is causing a "national crisis" in patient care.The letter was signed by palliative care experts including Professor Peter Millard, Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics, University of London, Dr Peter Hargreaves, a consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Luke's cancer centre in Guildford, and four others.
"Forecasting death is an inexact science," they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death "without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong.
"As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients."
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