Sick Babies in UK Put on Death Pathway

“Sick children are being discharged from NHS hospitals to die at home or in hospices on controversial ‘death pathways'”, according to an article published in the Daily Mail, a UK publication. “….the Mail can reveal the practice of withdrawing food and fluid by tube is being used on young patients as well as severely disabled newborn babies.”

The article is a stunning admission of so-called “end-of-life” care being carried out in the UK. Known as the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP). the article estimates that “130,000 elderly and terminally-ill adult patients die each year” in this manner. The LCP is currently the subject of an independent inquiry which will now include investigation of sick children being placed on the pathway. The investigation will also “look at whether cash payments to hospitals to hit death pathway targets have influenced doctors’ decisions.” LCP critics claim that this is “a form of euthanasia, used to clear hospital beds and save the NHS money.”

Several medical professionals describe the patient’s agony when food and fluids are withdrawn. One un-named doctor “wrote of the agony of watching the protracted deaths of babies” and described “one case of a baby…. whose parents agreed to put it on the pathway. “‘They wish for their child to die quickly once the feeding and fluids are stopped. They wish for pneumonia. They wish for no suffering. They wish for no visible changes to their precious baby. Their wishes, however are not consistent with my experience…the median time from withdrawal of hydration to death was ten days. Parents and care teams are unprepared for the sometimes severe changes that they will witness in the child’s physical appearance as severe dehydration ensues. I know, as they cannot, the unique horror of witnessing a child become smaller and shrunken, as the only route out of a life that has become excruciating to the patient or to the parents who love their baby.'”

One nurse stated that: “I witnessed a 14-year-old boy with cancer die with his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth when doctors refused to give him liquids by tube. His death was agonising for him, and for us nurses to watch. This is euthanasia by the backdoor.”

This article is heart-wrenching, and exposes the pressure placed on parents to decide on the death pathway, and its impact on the patient, family and medical professionals. It also exposes the potential for cost-savings by a National Health Service strapped for money. This article is a must-read and can be found here.

Barbara Lyons