Life's pathway . . .

10 Forsythia Grove

Outer Hamlet

CORSETTSHIRE  ZY6 4GT

My Dear Ralph

I was just perusing the daily newpaper in the local cafe dear.  And I see - to my horror - that, here in the UK, we have been administering the 'End of Life Pathway' to the helpless elderly patient in hospital since 1990 or so.  As you probably recall, I regaled you recently with a bone-chilling account what happened to my chum Sarah a few years ago in No Return District General Hospital.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, this 'End of Life Pathway' was being applied, apparently in secrecy, and a more appalling death I have yet to see.  Our newspapers are correct.  If the elderly person says, as she did, that she didn't want any more 'medical treatment' this seems to be seen as giving carte blanche to a horrifying sequence of actions. Intravenous infusions ('drips' to give the patient - who may well have difficulty reaching their drinks - essential liquids) are discontinued but, far more perniciously, elderly patients who are not suffering from great pain are hooked up to a morphine pump which drips the deadly sedative into their veins and takes away consciousness and volition.  Denied, then, the fluids to keep them hydrated and administered, instead, with the equivalent of heavy 'knock out' drops - the unfortunate human person is effectively denied any chance of recovery and falls, progressively, into a numb and clammy stupor with only one ending.  The strongest horse, or bull, could not survive it.  One could possibly understand the 'no drip' idea (if patients were regularly, and actively, offered - and helped with - drinks) but not the morphine pump whose intention, as far as I can see, is to clear the wards of elderly people who cannot benefit from active medical interventions!
In my view dear, this 'End of Life Pathway' amounts to  unjustifiable homicide and its practitioners - over recent years in the UK - should be called to account and taken to trial!
Yours very hot under the collar
Auntie