The Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman has criticised the NHS in England, saying that thousands of dying patients are being left in pain and without dignity due to poor end of life care.
Over the past four years the Ombudsman has investigated 265 complaints regarding end of life care. Of these, 136 have been upheld or partly upheld.
The independent complaints regulator highlights some of these “tragic cases” in a new report called Dying Without Dignity.
In one case, the mother of a 29 year old man had to call an A&E doctor to give her son pain relief after the palliative care ward he was on failed to react to their requests.
In another, a cancer patient and his family discovered his condition was terminal after reading a discharge note.
One elderly man was subject to 14 painful attempts to insert a drip in the final hours of his life, while one woman was denied the chance to say goodbye to her husband because nurses were calling the wrong number.
“Unnecessary Pain”
The report states there are too many examples of poor communication, poor pain management and substandard out-of-hours services.
Dame Julie Mellor, from the Ombudsman, said: “Our casework shows that too many people are dying without dignity.”
“Our investigations have found that patients have spent their last days in unnecessary pain, people have wrongly been denied their wish to die at home, and that poor communication between NHS staff and families has meant that people were unable to say goodbye to their loved ones.”
Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “The report cites heart-breaking examples of a lack of choice at the end of life that are totally unacceptable.”
“If we are to improve the current situation, we will have to see a dramatic improvement in co-ordination of care, and greater integration of health and social care.”
Speak to a solicitor
If you or your loved one has suffered because of negligent medical care, please get in touch with us today to discuss making a compensation claim.
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