Thursday, October 18, 2012

Liverpool not just for Beatles

We've discussed the Liverpool Death March Pathway before; in brief, the program's "being used to cut costs instead of as simply a more humane mode of care ... allows medical staff to withhold fluid and drugs in a patient’s final days."

Turns out, even this draconian  measure's not enough for the Much Vaunted National Health Service©:

"Thousands of patients have already been placed on 'death registers' which single them out to be allowed to die in comfort rather than be given life-saving treatment in hospital."

Some 3,000 health care "providers" enthusiastically participate in this (un)official death panel, which targets those victims patients who are expected to die within the year. Of course, one wonders whether there's a sort of synergy inherent in that process...

The program even has a very benign sounding title, "End of Life Care Registers," as if one were engaged or expecting a baby. Perhaps Harrods even has a department just for these folks, where one can pre-order coffins and the like for those "lucky" enough to make the list.

Not that the victims patients themselves would even know of it:

"Although more than 7,000 patients nationwide have already been put on the list, there appears to be no obligation for doctors to inform them."

Which I'm sure they're getting right onto.

What's so scary about this is the banality of the term "Register;" sounds ever so much more pleasant than Death Panel, don't you agree?
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