Liverpool Care Pathway - Not A Pathway, But A Conveyor Belt To Death

Once that chorum of opinion is agreed that death is an innevitable and imminent outcome, that outcome is pursued with an obsession and determination that is frightening to behold. Financial constraints are powering a culture of death that is stalking the corridors of power in the Healthcare industry.

A dark shadow is tramping our hospitals and care homes, eliminating opposition to it with the slur that, to do so, is to disrespect and disregard the patient's best interests. The right to death is becoming paramount over the right to life. The LCP is providing a newfound legitimacy and cover to an unspoken policy that has, actually, been in place for decades.

Anyone who falls into the clutches of the proponents of LCP and ticks all the boxes will be given assisted passage into the next world courtesy of the NHS. This will apply particularly to the elderly who are, in any case, suffering from that most terminal of all conditions - Old-Age! This may apply even contrary to the expressed wishes of patient and family. If you fit the diagnostic category, then so much the worse for you.

Recent years have seen the resurgence of policy that had its roots in the hospitals and the asylums of Hitler's Reich. In 2009, new guidelines on assisted suicide law were published by Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, to clarify when people were likely to be prosecuted.

TheTelegraph reported on this with the headline: 'Assisted suicide could be excuse to kill burdensome elderly, says police chief.'

TheTelegraph also headlined, 'Are we killing our elderly?'

and reported that:

"Care of Britain’s elderly is under intense scrutiny, with a number of reports in recent days highlighting the risks and suffering of patients at the hands of the NHS or family members. Some experts in care for the terminally ill claim new NHS guidance on the treatment of dying patients means some could be given sedation to help them pass away, masking any improvement in their condition.

Earlier, Britain’s most senior policewoman warned relaxation of assisted suicide laws could be exploited by families to kill burdensome elderly relatives. Barbara Wilding says a growing rift between young and old generations, combined with the pressures of an ageing population, is a significant challenge for police."

Under the headline 'Sentenced to death on the NHS' The Telegraph further reported:

"Patients with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under an NHS scheme to help end their lives, leading doctors have warned."

We left the following comment:

"New laws - New guidelines - These only serve to put more easy power into the hard hands of the unscrupulous, the uncaring and the misguided. There is already a culture of 'letting them go' and an unwritten policy of actually 'helping them on their way' set in place. That is, in anyone's terms, euthanasia!

Lest we forget - The holocaust grew its roots in the hospitals and the asylums of Hitler's Reich. The humane ending of a worthless life had its admirers worldwide in the 30's. Its protagonists hailed these bold new approaches, as now do those of euthanasia today. Extraordinary, but it was out of that darkness of 'mercy killing' grew the death camps. A slippery slope is ever a slippery and dangerous slope to tread."