Liverpool Care Pathway - Of Politics And Political Misassumptions

Much twittering on the net.

Comments 19/01/2013 from a Student Nurse -

Nick ‏@NickehBee: "There is literally no reason to run an investigation into the Liverpool Care Pathway other than to use the NHS as a punching bag YET AGAIN" 

Also: "Got told by someone the Liverpool Care Pathway *does* need investigating. Checked their profile. They use Bupa. Naturally."

In response to someone asking why the LCP inquiry is even warranted:  "Because Daily Mail wankers have got it into their head that it murders old people. Or theyre just liars."

This is not about political rights and lefts; it is about moral rights and wrongs. It is a most dangerous state of affairs when a person or institution stands sacrosanct, beyond criticism, solely because of who or what they are. That is precisely the situation we are in.

This is Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute Liverpool (MCPCIL) Newsletter August 2008 –

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

BUPA

008 has seen the start of our 3‐year programme in collaboration with BUPA. There are 3 projects in total:
1. Implementing the LCP in 125 Care Homes
2. Looking  at whether the LCP can be used for patients with dementia
3. Sustaining education within the care home setting

Further updates are available on the website ‐  www.mcpcil.org.uk


This is GP online -


Palliative care charities land £1 million BUPA fund

05 February 2007

BUPA Giving has pledged £1,187,041 to The Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute and The National Council for Palliative Care.

BUPA Giving is a new charitable initiative set-up to celebrate BUPA turning 60 next year and complements BUPA's existing charitable initiatives. BUPA Giving supports the development of services and those who provide them to improve health and care.

The money will be used over three years to fund three different projects in the fields of palliative and dementia care in care homes. Palliative care improves the quality of life for patients and families who face life-threatening illness by providing pain relief, symptom relief and spiritual and psychosocial support from diagnosis to the end of life and bereavement.

The chosen projects will seek to extend the use of the acclaimed Liverpool Care Pathway in care homes, developed specifically for people dying from dementia.

This is BUPA brochure -

The Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute and Bupa are collaborating on a project to introduce the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP) into 70 Bupa care homes across the UK.

All 70 homes have a named key champion for palliative care.

The LCP provides a pathway of care with a focus on controlling pain and other symptoms such as nausea, through nursing care with a focus on ‘dignified death’.

This is NHS NEoLC Programme -

Improving end of life care

Organisational approach to introducing the Liverpool Care Pathway at a BUPA care home (nursing), Bexley

11 May 2010

Key points

• Hospital admissions at the end of life have dropped sharply following the introduction of the LCP at a BUPA home in Bexley
• Staff feel more confident about discussing issues around death and dying and can counter requests for unnecessary treatment
• Some staff still find it difficult to recognise when a resident is dying

Of politics and political misassumptions there is much a lack of substance and a much ado about nothin'...

As the great Bard said: It's not at all about left-wing or right-wing but all about up-wing and down-wing.

And here is one last link to the Guardian...

and one final thought...

Odd - BUPA didn't sign the LCP consensus statement.

Why didnt they sign the consensus statement supporting the LCP in 2012, along with the other 22 umbrella organisations? 

Bupa gave them £1 million quid in 2007 to do the research....I mean, why not endorse this care pathway if you're using it in all of your care homes?

They also use it in poor folks equivalent of BUPA (raglan homes)....sounds like they tick the box that you're terminal once you've outlived the value of your house...

maybe...?