It is SUPPOSED to be the duty of any responsible newspaper to inform the public of serious wrongdoings and injustices.

That was the line some time ago. However the lawyers, bless their souls, proved in court that the fiduciary duty to the shareholder overrides any other duty, such as informing the public of wrongdoing. Any reporter/editor who doesn't know this will quickly find themselves out of a job and any manager who doesn't enforce this in bankruptcy court unable to pay the shareholders their tons of flesh for breaching his duty.

What? You are editor. You have a story about wrongs and you have a page 3 girl photo. You have only so much ink and paper in your budget. Which do you run? Which one brings in more advertising money? That is the one you run!

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That was fast work! Anti-Establishment Tabloid does it again

"Hospitals have even been paid incentives of £30million to hit targets for the number of patients on the pathway" Logan's Care Program

All very distressing, though, while the Mail and the Telegraph (and perhaps some posters here) have suggested it's the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) program that's a fault:

the LCP recommendations make it very clear that:

while legal consent is not required to place a patient on the LCP, the fact that the plan is being considered should always be discussed with a relative or carer and, if possible, the patient themselves
there should never be an occasion when a relative or carer who is named as the main contact is not informed when a diagnosis that the person is dying has been made
withdrawal of nutrition and fluids should never be a routine option, but done only if it is felt to be in the best interests of the patient, judged on a case-by-case basis

[...]
What does the Department of Health say?

The Independent reports that the Department of Health says that it doesn’t provide direct financial incentives for trusts to use the LCP. However, local areas may choose to have these in place.

A Department of Health spokesman told the Independent: “The LCP is supported by more than 20 leading organisations, including Marie Curie Cancer Care and Age UK, as a way to help meet the care and dignity needs for those who are at the end of their life.

“We are clear the LCP can only work if each patient is fully consulted, where this is feasible, and their family involved in all aspects of decision-making. Staff must properly communicate with the patient and their family – any failure to do so is unacceptable."

source

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I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...

It is SUPPOSED to be the duty of any responsible newspaper to inform the public of serious wrongdoings and injustices. That clearly is not so in the case of Murdoch publications. Wouldn't it be nice if someone took him up a dark alley and gave him a good duffing up, and his empire was shut down, the world wwould be a better place.

I wont hold my breath, I suggest you don't hold yours either.

It is the duty of any responsible newspaper to inform the public of serious wrongdoings and injustices

Where did you get that pap?! It is their duty to make money for the shareholder. They have no other duty. Murdoch makes sure every reporter working for him knows that.

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It is the duty of any responsible newspaper to inform the public of serious wrongdoings and injustices, that they might otherwise not be aware of. In cases like the Pathway, the Mail did a service to the community by highlighting such a malpractice. It is doing it again today via articles on the immunity given to tax evaders, and the fiddling of GCSE grades. That is investigative journalism at its best.

Unfortunately, the Mail is also constantly trying to undermine the Government and politicians, and that is why I have called it anti-establishment. I stand by my criticism.

That was fast work! Anti-Establishment Tabloid does it again

"Hospitals have even been paid incentives of £30million to hit targets for the number of patients on the pathway" Logan's Care Program

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The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the best-documented popular rebellion to have occurred during medieval times. The names of some of its leaders, John Ball, Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, are still familiar in popular culture, although little is known of them.

Wasn't he a recent Home Secretary? No wonder the country's in a mess.... :)

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The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the best-documented popular rebellion to have occurred during medieval times. The names of some of its leaders, John Ball, Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, are still familiar in popular culture, although little is known of them.

Not sure that we would get very far though, with these two ....

Peasants

district nurses now doctors

Medical Profession's lethal arrogance

Had to happen eventually. Who's next? We've had the Government, Bankers, Police, Media,Civil Service......

...how about the peasantry? A nice little uprising will keep the media & politicians happy for a while.

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Just how many hospitals are actually using LCP?

I'm shocked to find Addenbrookes using it. My wife spent a month in Intensive care there in 2005 & the staff were absolutely brilliant.

So the question is: - Is the current government destroying everything it gets involved in?

Addenbrookes LCP

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Then there is ZARDOX depicting a future time when some of mankind lives so long they get bored with living. Trying to predict man'ssituation 100 years from now is about as hard as predicting the wearther.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

THERE IS NO SANCTUARY

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me@rescam.org

Using "Logan's Run" as an example is stretching it a bit. As I recall they all were terminated at the age of thirty. Now in "Soilent Green" you could choose to end it all and have a nice long drift into permanent slumber while watching scenes from a world that no longer existed.

Not really Bob. I did state in the 1st post, what next? Reduce the age over time. Who knows what mankind will be doing in, say, a 100 years from now.

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.....What next? Over time, reduce the age so that those that do nothing for the benefit of society, are put to sleep?

In "The Giver", I believe it was referred to as "being released".

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#resist

Using "Logan's Run" as an example is stretching it a bit. As I recall they all were terminated at the age of thirty. Now in "Soilent Green" you could choose to end it all and have a nice long drift into permanent slumber while watching scenes from a world that no longer existed.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

I think familys should also communicate what there final wishes are.
My second wife told me repeatedly over the years she did not want to be hooked up to a machine. Well she was in an auto accident had sufferd massive brain injuries. They did a brain scan and other tests and told me that she was brain dead, only the macines kept her alive. I pulled the plug according to her wishes. I didnt like making that decision, But it was one she made and I abided by it.

Now that Im remarried, We have talked about what our final wishes will be. Yes its not a fun topic to discuss but it needs to be done.

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[/quote]

Old James

Personally, I think it's all down to the hospital itself & the quality of it's staff.

Seven years ago next month, I received an emergency call from a family member. My father had collapsed [he'd had a major heart attack] & unfortunately, cracked his head against the fridge on his way down.

By the time the emergency services got to him, I felt it was too late (took 31 minutes - you've only got 3 min if starved of oxygen).

By the time we all got to the hospital, he had been resusitated several times & I had been asked by the doctor, after explaining matters that I was already aware of, whether or not the resusitate again. I gave a negative as we had all seen what out late mother went through & did not want to see, what was a very active man, go through the same.

With what I've seen in some hospitals, I feel that people should have to right to be at their loved ones last moments if possible.

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Glad to hear that John, so much negative NHS stuff around these days. Perhaps I should have said "are often not able to".

The reason that I said that was that Hospices are mostly specifically set up and run for terminally ill patients, and staffed by Macmillan nurses and others trained in terminal care. What normally happens is that people stay in an NHS hospital until there is nothing more that can be done for them medically, and then they are transferred to a Hospice for the last few weeks.

It frees up a hospital bed and puts the patient into specialist dedicated care, as much for the benefit of the immediate relatives as for the patient. They have special visiting areas and counseling which cannot always be supplied in a busy hospital. It has happened in my family within the last 12 months. Locally we have the Princess Alice Hospice which I have raised money for in the past.

Most UK Hospices allow patients to pass away in peace and dignity. NHS hospitals do not.

Not in my experience, Chris.

On the haematology ward we had two terminal patients who were overseen by nurses on a 15 minute basis. They adjusted their morphine for the pain levels until they slipped away quietly.

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues